THE future of Stratford Civic Hall could be decided at the beginning of next year, after a report into its possibilities is completed.

Town clerk Richard Eggington said this week that a feasibility report into the role the hall will play in the future of entertainment in the town, who will run it and who will pay for it is to be commissioned and will be completed by Christmas.

The Rother Street building has operated as a loss-making entertainment venue for the past few years, but the Charities Commission ruled cash from the town's Guild and College Estates should not be used to subsidise it and ordered the summer season to be its last.

In April, Mr Eggington told the hall's 26 staff the charity commission had ruled that using cash from the charities was not permitted and operations would have to stop.

In a bid to keep staff on and retain the hall's use for the public, the town council - supported by the commission - has agreed to carry out the study into a number of options for the hall.

The district's hunt for a community arts facility, which restarted after the collapse of the Waterside Theatre plan, will be incorporated into the study and it seems likely that the new civic hall will be tailored to fit the community arts bill. "We are looking at all the possibilities," said Mr Eggington. "We will be looking at how we can continue use of the civic hall in a way that matches charity regulations and whether the hall will stay in a similar vein as before or whether things must change."

He added that he could not guarantee no job losses would be necessary but he hoped that would not be the case.