PLANS for a commercial takeover of Malvern Theatres have been condemned by the Malvern Theatres Association, which has provided volunteer staff for nearly 40 years.

Malvern Theatres Trust and Malvern Hills District Council are in talks with the Surrey-based Ambassador Theatre Group about the possibility of such a move.

Sharon Grey, the council's economic development and tourism officer, said the discussions came out of MHDC's Best Value review of its spending policies and the trust's fears about the future of council funding for the theatre.

The council gave £204,000 to the theatre this year, which was £23,000 down on the previous year.

Ms Grey said: "The council is obliged to look at all its spending and see what can be done to make things more efficient."

She said an independent consultant had been engaged to look at the situation.

"The outcome was that the consultant was saying the theatre was run very well and was probably one of the best provincial theatres around," she said.

"Nonetheless, the consultant recommended getting in touch with commercial theatre operators to look at the options."

Ms Grey said nothing had been decided but negotiations would be continuing among the three parties in the New Year.

Clive Richards, chairman of Malvern Theatres Trust, could not be reached for comment yesterday (Thursday).

The Ambassadors Theatre Group is a well-established company which runs 18 theatres, some in the West End - including the Donmar Warehouse - and some outside London. A spokesman confirmed it was involved in the negotiations but would not comment further.

Tony Marsden, Malvern Theatres Association secretary, said: "We're convinced such a takeover would be a retrograde step, both for the theatres and for the town. It would also be betrayal of all the moral, financial and practical support that our members have given to theatre activities since the foundation of the association in 1964."

The association, which has 380 members, provides volunteer front-of-house staff for all productions, plus envelope filling for all theatre mail-outs - work which it says saves the Theatres £60,000-£80,000 a year.

It also raises money for theatre equipment. Its latest donation is £7,000 towards a new lighting desk.

Mr Marsden said members feared a commercial takeover would mean the loss of the theatres' unique ambience.

He said: "There are very few independent theatres left in this country and we should be proud that ours are among them. The Malvern Theatres just would not be the same under commercial group management."

Chris Bassett, of Malvern Theatre Players, said amateur groups which use the theatre, who had banded together under the banner Malvern And District Community Arts Project, were keeping an eye on the situation.

"We don't really know much about what's going on yet. We would hope that safeguards would be in place to allow us to continue being the resident amateur company," he said.

"Speaking personally, it's hard to imagine any company running the theatre better than Nic Lloyd does now."