Kettering Conference Centre to stay open until July

Kettering Conference Centre is set to shut its doors

A leisure complex including a well-known theatre has said it will stay open until 3 July.

Kettering Conference Centre, which includes the Lighthouse Theatre, had announced it would close at the end of May.

But the group, which runs the venue, said an extension would give "longer to support employees, and partners more time to find alternative solutions".

"We recognise the venue is important to the community," it said in a statement.

The Compass Group said all businesses at the venue had been "making a loss for a number of years" and the venue was no longer sustainable to operate.

"The Lighthouse Theatre will confirm in the coming days if any shows in June will be reinstated," the statement said.

An online petition started last week to save the centre, which also houses the Balance Health Club and Arena Sports Centre. It has had more than 11,000 signatures.

Kettering comedian James Acaster, who was due to play four homecoming gigs at the Lighthouse Theatre in August, has urged North Northamptonshire Council to step in a save the venue.

He described it as "a quite special venue to me" in a video on Facebook.

The conference centre site is leased from the landowner by North Northamptonshire Council.

The authority previously said it was "keen to ensure that arrangements are put in place so that services can be restored at the facility as quickly as possible".