FURTHER surveys following the discovery of asbestos in the backstage area of The Forum in Barrow have confirmed that the theatre area will need to be closed while specialist work is undertaken to remove the asbestos.

This means that the theatre at The Forum will remain closed for up to six months.

The rest of The Forum, including the café and studio/meeting rooms, is unaffected and will remain open and available to the public.

Wherever feasible, Forum staff are now hoping to re-schedule or re-locate shows and events scheduled to take place in The Forum theatre during the next six months.

Some shows may need to be cancelled, said Westmorland and Furness Council, which owns and manages The Forum.

Anyone who has already purchased tickets for a show during this period should check The Forum website – www.theforumbarrow.co.uk - for latest information about particular events.

Forum staff are currently contacting promoters and event organisers about bookings for The Forum in the next six months to advise them of the situation and discuss options.

Following a recent water leak at the venue, investigations in the backstage area of the venue last month confirmed the presence of asbestos.

No traces of asbestos were found in air quality tests and there is no evidence to suggest that any staff, members of the public, performers or stage crew has been exposed to risk at any time.

Westmorland and Furness Council immediately closed the theatre and backstage area as a precaution while specialist contractors carried out further surveys.

Those surveys and assessments have concluded that it will not be possible to carry out the necessary work to remove the asbestos without closing the whole theatre space and backstage area.

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A spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness Council said: “We fully appreciate that people will be concerned and upset at the potential cancellation of events at The Forum.

“Everyone at The Forum feels desperately sorry for the performers, organisers and ticket holders that shows will be affected, but public safety has to be our absolute priority. The advice is clear that the work cannot be carried out to safely remove the asbestos without closing the theatre.

“We are now talking to promoters about options to re-schedule or re-locate some shows and whether they could still go ahead, but we wanted to let our valued customers know the situation as soon as we were able after receiving the survey update, especially those people who have already bought tickets for shows.

“We would ask that people bear with us while we have those discussions and we will update The Forum website with information about individual events, whether they are being re-arranged or details about ticket refunds, as soon as possible. In the meantime, we won’t be selling any further tickets for events scheduled for The Forum theatre up to March next year.’’