CLAIMS by the Swan Theatre's board of directors that it would bid for control of the venue were a "red herring", according to the leader of Worcester City Council.

Councillor Stephen Inman said he had received no business plan from the board, which announced its intention to take back control just four hours before the cabinet was due to discuss handing the venue to Huntingdon Hall director, Chris Jaeger.

The board not only missed the deadline for submitting a business plan but also failed to turn up to a meeting with the interview panel that chose Mr Jaeger as the preferred bidder.

However, a letter from chairman Gerald Harris was delivered to the Guildhall, which complained that the planned re-opening at the end of April was premature.

"We have bent over backwards to allow them to lodge a bid and to give them a fair hearing," said Coun Inman. "But they have decided not to participate.

"The whole thing has been a total red herring and a distraction."

Meanwhile, the council is still awaiting the return of the keys to the theatre.

The board says it is waiting for the sale of its nearby administration centre, Theatre House, to be completed before it can return them.

But Coun Inman called the "frustrating" wait for the keys part of an "on-going tactical battle" run by the board.

Board member Julia Luff, however, denied they were waging a tactical battle.

"We're just winding up affairs," she said.

"We have financial responsibilities and it's our duty to see our financial affairs are tied up satisfactorily.

"We're interested in securing any happy future for the theatre in any capacity."

The cabinet's rescue package for the theatre, which Labour councillors claim was hatched in secret, will go under the spotlight tonight, at a special meeting of the council's community services policy and review committee.

It was arranged after the decision to start negotiating terms with Mr Jaeger was "called in" earlier this month.

Any recommendations the committee makes will be discussed the following night by the cabinet, when a final decision on the theatre's future is due to be taken.

"We will be looking at how fair the process has been in appointing a preferred bidder," said committee chairman, Coun Adrian Gregson.

"We will also look at the bids themselves, the business plan, and the proposals which were put to the original interview panel."

Tonight's meeting, which is open to the public, is being held at the Guildhall, in the High Street, at 7pm.