BOSSES have denied that a concert venue is in financial difficulties, following the start of a court battle to close down the company behind it.

Infonow, which runs Newcastle Opera House, is the subject of a petition for a winding-up order. A preliminary court hearing into the matter was adjourned on Monday, after lawyers for the firm opposed the move.

Tony Turner, company director, said: "A third party has issued a petition to be heard in court. We are vigorously defending it. In my view, it is spurious and our defence has been successful in having it adjourned. This will not affect the operational side of the business."

Mr Turner refused to say who was petitioning for the company to be wound up, but it is believed to be the result of a wrangle over a debt with another firm.

The Westgate Road theatre, a Grade I-listed building, dates from 1867 and was formerly known as the Tyne Theatre and Opera House.

It possesses the only surviving example of Victorian wooden stage machinery in the world.

Through a chequered history, it has survived floods and a fire on Christmas Day, 1985.

Infonow bought the building in 2000, in a deal believed to be worth between £2m and £3m.