Appeal for private operator to run Bedworth Civic Hall

Bedworth Civic Hall was used as a vaccination centre during the Covid-19 pandemic

A private operator is wanted to run a Warwickshire entertainment venue, which the local authority says it can no longer afford to maintain.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council said investment was desperately needed to reopen Bedworth Civic Hall.

The venue, which opened in 1973, has hosted Luciano Pavarotti and Morecambe and Wise among its acts.

It operated as a vaccination centre during the Covid-19 pandemic but has not reopened since the rollout of jabs.

The council suggested it would cost the authority a sum of £845,000 to begin operating the venue again, with leader, Kris Wilson, calling it a "significant financial burden" on the budget, and a burden "forecast to increase in future years".

He said the situation was no longer sustainable for the authority given other demands on its services and invited interested parties "to put together a sustainable and realistic business plan".

The council said it would also listen to people with alternative plans for the building, providing there was no cost to the authority.

The council has published an outline Bedworth Town Centre Vision, setting out how the area could look if new homes, and a new, smaller civic hall and library were created there.