Sussex Musical Productions moves to Shoreham

Sussex Musical Productions has decided to quit its traditional home at Worthing Pavilion Theatre and switch this year’s performances to the Shoreham Centre.

Revealing the company was finding it harder to make ends meet, chairman Tim Kimber said: “Costs are going up faster than we dare increase our ticket prices, access to the Pavilion is increasingly difficult and costly in terms of parking, and many of our traditional customers find Worthing town centre a rather intimidating place.

“So, we have decided to cut our losses and leave the pier.”

He claimed Worthing Borough Council lacked vision in not coming up with a parking deal for theatre-goers (see more of Mr Kimber’s comments on page 48 of The Guide).

But the council has hit back at the musical society’s allegations.

A spokeswoman said: “It is difficult to compare the two venues, as one is a full-blown theatre facility and the other is a community centre, so we can only guess the reason for the move is to save money – something we all understand.

“On the question of personal safety, we would like to reiterate that crime statistics show Worthing to be one of the safest places to be.”

She said parking deals were offered to theatre customers and details could be seen at www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/CarParking