TOP chart bands have been banned from playing "stand-up" gigs at an East Lancashire venue which has already undergone a £2.5 million refurbishment - because of damage to girders holding up the balconies.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has been told that all concerts at Blackburn's King George's Hall must be all-seater until repair work costing up to £50,000 has been completed. The problems came to light during a recent rock concert when many of the 2,000-strong crowd jumped around, causing the building to vibrate.

Acts like Robbie Williams, Kula Shaker, Space and Cast, who have all recently played the venue, are now unlikely to come to town until the problems are resolved, according to a top promotion agency.

Engineers have advised that work on rusting balcony supports at the council-owned venue must be completed before any more standing rock concerts can be booked.

Simon Moran, managing director of SJM Promotions, who were responsible for bringing the chart acts to Blackburn, said the ban on standing gigs was bad news for East Lancashire's music scene.

Speaking from the Glastonbury Festival, he said: "King George's Hall has had some great acts through us recently. These aren't the sort of acts you get a seated audience for. "Blackburn's music scene is going to be affected by it and it is a bit of a shame really."

Ironically, a classical music performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, complete with the sound of cannon fire, is set to go ahead this weekend.

Lancashire Music Service says it expects the performance to "go with a bang".

Eddie Runswick, the council's director of community, leisure and cultural services, said: "Staff working during one of the recent concerts felt a lot of vibration and were concerned about it.

"The engineers who were called in found damage to the girders which hold the balconies up.

"When the venue was built more than 100 years ago these type of events were not envisaged."

A council spokesman said: "These events create considerable stress and vibration on the structure of the halls and the balconies in particular.

"A programme is currently being put together to tackle the work and the council is considering how best to meet the cost, which could be up to £50,000 depending on the extent of the problem.

"We have been advised not to book any more standing rock concerts until the problem is resolved."

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