Bradford Council uses theatre to hold first in-person meeting

The 1,400 seat Alhambra Theatre was used to ensure social distancing, the council said.

A council has held its first in-person meeting since the start of lockdown in a historic theatre.

Bradford Council used the 1,400-seat Alhambra Theatre to ensure social distancing.

The annual council meeting includes the ceremony to install the city's new Lord Mayor.

Meetings have been held online, but the government has now ordered local authorities to hold them in person from this month.

In April, legal action calling for councils to be allowed to continue online meetings was rejected by the High Court.

The event is the biggest council meeting of the year. As well as featuring all 90 councillors, it is attended by council officers, other civic dignitaries and members of the press.

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According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a council spokesperson said: "With social distance guidelines still being in place, a large meeting like Full Council with all 90 members cannot be held in the council chamber at City Hall.

"An alternative venue had to be found to enable social distancing, so it was decided that the most suitable place was the Alhambra.

"All future committee or panel meetings will need to be assessed for numbers involved so that it can be decided whether they can be held in City Hall or another venue."

Deputy Lord Mayor Shabir Hussain assumed the role of Lord Mayor during the meeting.

Councillor Hussain was originally due to be Lord Mayor last year, but the pandemic led to the decision to keep existing mayor Doreen Lee in post for another year.