THE city council must either be confused or hypocritical to promote the Swan Theatre on a new website, when budget cuts could force it to close, says one MP.

The city council helped commission the website to celebrate Worcester's tourist attractions, including the troubled theatre.

Www.visitworcester.com went live last Thursday - a week after the proposal to slash the theatre's annual grant by £83,000 was announced.

"A website promoting the tourist attractions Worcester has is a good idea, and I welcome it," said Mike Foster, Worcester MP.

"What I find confusing is that the city council is keen to promote the Swan Theatre as a tourist attraction, yet by their own actions they will close it down.

"If I was being generous, I'd say they are confused, but some could view them as a touch hypocritical.

"A leading city councillor said that Worcester has a lot to offer visitors and he is right. But the city council is planning to reduce the number of visitor attractions by seeing the Swan close.

Mr Foster warned the council to stop "buck passing" and guarantee the existing grant for the Swan for the next year so Worcester had tourist attractions for people to visit.

"Worcester could be a thriving centre for arts and culture if the city council wanted it," he said.

Despite repeated attempts to contact him, council leader Stephen Inman was unavailable for comment as the Evening News went to press.