MEMBERS of a North-East arts development agency have spoken of their sadness at the closure of their company following cuts in its core funding.

Durham City Arts, announced last night that it will no longer be bringing arts experiences to the people living, working and visiting County Durham.

A spokesman for the charity said Durham City Arts has run an "amazing series of series of arts programmes and events" worth over £1.1 million since 2006.

However, Durham County Council made the decision that no future funding was possible for the company, as it implemented its programme of budget reductions to cope with a 30 per cent cut in government grant.

This decision follows that of the Arts Council England, which had announced the company would be among hundreds to be cut from Arts Council England's new national portfolio.

Without this core funding, Durham City Arts could no longer see a way forward financially and "sadly" made the decision to wind up the company.

Board chairman Sue Pitts said: "The work the company has done over the years has become an intrinsic part of Durham's cultural life.

"The initiatives developed with hard to reach groups, some of which has won awards, may well be lost. "That would be tragic because art can truly be transformative. We simply have to hope that in the immediate future, Arts Council England and local authorities can sustain and develop artistic and creative opportunity in these key areas."

Durham City Arts was founded by Durham City Council in 1990 and developed an arts programme paving the way for the city’s cultural success.

The Durham Book Festival, Brass Music Festival and Enlightenment - the forerunner to the successful Lumiere Festival of Light - were first developed by the group.

The company will formally close on March 31 2012.