COUNCIL bosses will scrutinise an arts trust’s accounts before deciding to grant a final £10,000 in funding.

Hyndburn Council earlier this year approved £30,000 in cash fort Hyndburn Arts Trust to help keep Oswaldtwistle Civic Arts Centre up and running.

The first two £10,000 payments have been made and now the trust’s accounts will be brought before a scrutiny meeting next week.

If councillors are satisfied, cabinet members will be asked to grant the final tranche as soon as possible.

In August Hyndburn Arts Trust secretary Gayle Knight asked councillors for a one-off £30,000 cash injection to keep the Civic Arts Centre in Oswaldtwistle running.

Ms Knight told the committee without the funding, the centre could have to close.

A spate of cancelled bookings has contributed to cash flow problems for the trust.

A Michael Jackson tribute act cancelled his tour after a damning BBC Panorama documentary about the star aired.

And self-proclaimed serial killer expert Paul Harrison cancelled his UK tour after an investigation by The Sun cast doubt on his claims to have encountered notorious figures including Rose West, Peter Sutcliffe and Charles Manson.

A Jason Manford-backed comedy competition was moved to a bigger venue and a planned show by a boyband was also cancelled.

The former Oswaldtwistle Town Hall building was refurbished in 2010/11 and reopened as the Civic Arts Centre and Theatre on August 10, 2010.

Initially the downstairs was the Arts Centre and was managed by Hyndburn Arts Trust whilst the theatre was still managed by Hyndburn Leisure.

In 2015 the two floors were both brought under the management of Hyndburn Arts.

In addition to the problems with cancellations, trustees have had to deal with a flood this year from old pipes that burst, as well as issues with the fire alarm broke.

And last year, the building's heating broke down.

Ms Knight told members the council had been losing more than £50,000 a year on the building before it was taken over by Hyndburn Arts.

She said an average of 1,500 people now used the building every week and people came from across the country to attend events organised by Hyndburn Arts.