MALVERN Theatres has had a very successful year, with ticket sales up by more than £1 million in 2004/5.

The increase has been warmly welcomed by chief executive Nic Lloyd, who said the £1 million increase had been needed to make a profit and clear outstanding debts.

He said: "I knew it was a tall order, as indeed did my staff, and the spring and summer of 2004 did not bode well.

"We were way behind our target figure, but the success of the autumn and spring allowed us to achieve those very difficult targets."

He said the success was a tribute to the theatre staff, to volunteers such as the Malvern Theatre Association and to all who bought tickets.

"We've got a well-established drama audience, but what we've been doing is increasing the variety of the programming to reach beyond that," he said.

This has included bringing a greater variety of one-night shows to the Forum and enlarging the scope of the educational programme - both ways of getting new faces through the doors.

He said that contemporary performances had proved as attractive to audiences as traditional shows. The cinema ticket sales were also holding up.

"I want to thank everyone who has made that happen with their hard work and everyone who has bought tickets," said Mr Lloyd.

"We will continue to work hard to keep the theatre lively and vibrant. It shows that Malvern is a more cosmopolitan area than perhaps people sometimes imagine."