THE financial health of a town’s theatres has turned a corner.

The three theatres in Worthing, which were almost half a million pounds in the red three years ago, have almost broken even this year.

Projected figures for 2016/17 for the Connaught and Pavilion Theatres and the Assembly Hall indicate an overspend of £25,000 compared with £484,000 in 2013/14.

The figures also show profits up 88 per cent, and revenues up 23 per cent.

Cllr Heather Mercer, the council’s executive member for customer services, said: ”I am so thrilled. We’ve gone on a long, hard journey but a combination of tough costs controls and a brilliant programme of events under head of culture Amanda O’Reilly has turned this into a success story.”

Ms O’Reilly added: “I’m so proud of my team.”