WE are writing to express our shock and disbelief at the savage cut in the grant of Worcester Swan Theatre next year.

Some may say theatres are elitist. A survey of recent productions gives the lie to this - everything from pantomime to local storytelling in the Century plays, comedy to serious issues, poetry, dance and classic drama.

I have taken parties of schoolchildren there to see everything from Shakespeare to performance poetry, and my own extended family (toddlers to teens to OAPs) to see the Christmas production every year.

The educational, cultural and entertainment benefits to the city are enormous. The theatre is small, friendly and is well-designed - every seat has a good view - and the prices are affordable.

The calculated destruction of the Swan Theatre would be an act of cultural vandalism. A city the size of Worcester needs a theatre - even here in Pershore we are working to provide one - and Cheltenham, Malvern and Tewkesbury have this facility.

Why should Worcester be the poor relation? Worcester's theatre, like Pershore's Theatre Arts building, was founded largely by public subscription and the unstinting support of hundreds of ordinary theatre-goers.

The very bricks and auditorium seats bear witness to this determination to give Worcester a permanent home for drama and the arts.

It is vital that everyone who cares about the Swan's future writes and campaigns to save it now. Once it has gone it will be too late - and Worcester will be a poorer place.

JULIE AND MARTYN SPENCE, Pershore.