CHORLEY Little Theatre will now remain open for the summer after it was revealed that it would cost more than originally thought to remove asbestos from the building.

Essential work was due to begin on the site on June 10 for six weeks, but now the original contractor in charge of the work has told theatre bosses it is going to cost more than was estimated.

Work has now been delayed as a result and another quotation is needed.

Cathy Hurley, the Dole Lane theatre's business manager, said: "On closer inspection, there is more work involved. It could be a couple of months before work starts on the building again.

"We have got to get new quotations for the work involved, but it's difficult to estimate how much it's going to be."

The local authority has made a contribution towards the cost of having the material removed, which is believed to run into tens of thousands of pounds because of the age of the building. And in the meantime, so the company does not waste too much time, Cathy is planning on putting on more productions at the soon-to-be empty theatre.

She said: "We will probably do another production if we can get ourselves together and do a bit of chasing around."

She has suggested to the artistic committee that they do three or four of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads at the end of July or the beginning of August, but she is currently awaiting a decision.

If anybody is interested in doing one of the productions, they should contact Cathy on 01257 410297.

The theatre company, along with the youth theatre, will also be performing in Astley Park on three separate nights, as part of Chorley's Millennium Midsummer Festival.

The groups will be performing on June 11, 13 and 14, doing extracts from some of their previous productions, each about 20 minutes long and linked by two narrators posing as stagehands.