THE future of a Droitwich theatre has been secured for a quarter of a century after a group of volunteers bought the lease.

The Norbury Theatre faced a bleak future with only three years left on its Friar Street lease, as there were concerns that its former owner would not renew it.

But in a stroke of fortune for the Norbury, also called the Droitwich Theatre and Arts Club, a team of four people who have helped to run the theatre were able to form a company and stump up the £120,000 needed.

The company, called Friar Street Arts, will be sub-letting the lease to the Norbury for the next quarter of a century.

David Goode, of Friar Street Arts, said: "We have been working towards doing this for the last three years. It has been a slow process but at the end of the day we have managed to raise the money in a number of different ways. It will be a new era for the theatre and we have an exciting programme of events coming up."

Chairman of the Norbury Theatre Alan Humphries said getting the new lease was a great relief for them, but it was only the start.

He said: "The building is in need of quite a bit of work. It has started to look a bit tired and we do need to bring it up to the 21st century. Mr Humphries said they would now be able to look at getting other funding to improve the theatre further.

The Norbury Theatre has been running for 40 years.

At the Droitwich Spa town council meeting on Monday, February 25, councillors congratulated the theatre for securing the lease.

Mayor Richard Morris said: "It is great news for our local theatre."