It is sad to see the demolition of the old Imperial Theatre.

I tried to convince Brighton and Hove City Council the property should not be sold for redevelopment but should be retained as a Lyric Theatre.

I refused to attend the recent, so-called ceremony to celebrate the clearance of the site, to which I was invited, because I felt a wake would have been more appropriate.

-Coun Geoffrey Theobald, Leader of the Conservative group, Brighton and Hove City Council