PERSHORE'S Number 8 arts centre has won a £50,000 grant to restore the faade of its grade-two listed High Street base.

Meanwhile, work is continuing behind the scenes to have a 250-seat auditorium ready for opening in October.

The recent grant to restore the Georgian frontage of the centre was awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund on Tuesday.

Ray Steadman, managing director of Number 8, said that the money would help improve the whole of the town centre. "The improvements will add to the architectural value of Number 8 and its contribution to the look of the High Street as a whole."

He added that the existing frontage on Number 8 owes much to the decades that the building spent as a supermarket. "We are going to use the money to take away the existing doorway and 1970s window boxes. We are going to put in sliding doors on the right with a gently sloping ramp for disabled access. On the left will be a large, single window that will go a long way to restoring the symmetry that befits a Georgian building.

The grant will also free other funds for the installation of a regency iron balcony, a distinctive feature of many nearby properties.

The charity shop at Number 8, which has made a massive contribution to funding the project, will close at the end of May and move two doors away to the old Wireless Supply shop.

Following this date the workers will move in to start converting the front of the building to a foyer, complete with caf-bar and art gallery.

The theatre itself will be an adaptable space suitable for antique fairs and conferences as well as its regular uses as a theatre and cinema. There will also be a self-contained studio overlooking the Abbey and The Courtyard Room, a community venue complete with sprung floor available for hire to local groups.

"We want everything to be ready for October, so there is an awful lot going on both at the front and the back," said Mr Steadman.