A COUNCIL is hiring managers from another authority to turn around the fortunes of its theatre.

Durham City Council has appointed Darlington Borough Council's arts and leisure team - which runs the town's popular 900-seat Civic Theatre and thriving arts centre - to oversee the £14m Gala Theatre.

The city council, which admits it has no theatre management expertise, has been running the 500-seat Gala, which opened in January 2002, since the collapse of theatre management company The Entertainment Team (Durham) Ltd with debts of £700,000.

Council tax payers are concerned about the theatre's growing deficit.

But the Liberal Democrats, who now control the city council, hope that the theatre's call on the public purse will be reduced by introducing proven professional management for a year.

Council's leader Sue Pitts said: "We clearly haven't got the management of the theatre right and that's a matter of considerable importance.

"We have just signed a management agreement to have it run on a baby-sitting basis where we can learn the best way of running it.

"We have had several companies offering us advice and we have picked this one as the best. Darlington was one of three organisations that put in bids and its submission was very impressive."

Councillor Pitts said the Gala was popular with residents and that its subsidy was less than that given to the city's sports centres.

Durham will use the knowledge gained from Darlington to appoint its own managers after the year.

Darlington council's Labour leader, John Williams, said: "This arrangement is a ringing endorsement of the quality of Darlington leisure management."