VOLUNTEERS raced against time to get the Swan Theatre up to scratch, parts of which have been described as "squalid" by its new manager.

Chris Jaeger, head of Huntingdon Arts which now runs the Swan, said he was shocked by the state of the theatre when he was given the keys at the beginning of the month.

Since then, he has spent long hours at the Swan in a desperate bid to make the venue safe for the public in time for the grand reopening tomorrow.

"I would describe parts of the backstage areas as squalid," said Mr Jaeger. "Since April 2 it has been absolutely non-stop.

"We've had four electricians here and there's been boiler repair men to make the building safe.

"It fell well below the standard for a building we run."

Mr Jaeger's priority was to make the venue safe, which involved repairing the electrics and installing proper fire doors.

He has now set a deadline of six months to take care of other important improvements, such as transforming the backstage areas and dressing rooms with their shoddy carpets and cracked mirrors.

Getting the theatre up to scratch has already exhausted the £40,000 start-up contribution from the city council.

"The theatre is safe and it is ready for people," said Mr Jaeger.

Members of Great Witley Operatic Society, which is staging the first production, spent Saturday cleaning and tidying the theatre.

"We were asked to come down to lend a hand cleaning the place up," said Jean Glover secretary of GWOS.

"It's been a panic."

Gerald Harris, director of the Swan's former board of directors, said the theatre had a limited life and there had been problems but the theatre had lacked the funding to deal with them.

"It was usable before," said Mr Harris. "But now the city council, which claims to be in a financial crisis, has suddenly found all this money."