A SCHEME costing £50,000 to improve seating at Blackburn's King George's Hall complex has been announced.

The money will fund the installation of a new retractable seatinsg on the main floor of the hall. Described in a council report as "state of the art", the tier-level seating can be arranged to suit the type of performance.

Currently, seating on the main floor is all on one level.

A report to Coun Kate Hollern, in charge of leisure and culture, states that the seating will improve viewing and comfort for the main floor audience, improving the atmosphere as a result. The report says "Providing tiered seating to the main floor will allow a dramatic improvement to the seating arrangements for performance such as ballet, classical events, opera and panto.

"It should also mean we can attract new booking and mean that, for the first time, we can provide quality theatre and lecture-style seating in a town centre location."

Because the seating is retractable, it will not affect the hall's ability to host 'stand-up' events such as exhibitions. Major renovation work took place at King George's Hall in 2001 to help enable the venue to hold pop concerts again.

After attracting big names in the late 1990s, including Robbie Williams, Kula Shaker, Cast and Louise, a ban was placed on standing concerts after the hall started shaking. Special steel rods were inserted in the floor.

Around 1,800 can be accommodated for standing events downstairs, and 2,000 seated. That won't change with the new retracted seating.

Coun Hollern has approved the spending of £50,000 and work will take place within the next year. Other improvements to the Hall include moving the Regency fitness gym to Waves, making more space for conference facilities.