SUPPORTERS of the once glorious Victorian music hall - Chatham’s Theatre Royal - are bidding farewell to the old lady this weekend as the curtain falls.

Devoted campaigners of Chatham's Theatre Royal have admitted defeat after 15 years of voluntary restoration, cleaning and temporary repair works.

But even though the doors are closing to the public, Ken Tappenden, chairman of the Theatre Royal Chatham Trust, said it is not entirely the end of the road. He said: "Even though the theatre will be closed to the public because of health and safety matters, we are hoping to set up a fund where we assist young talent.

"Hopefully we will be able to send dancers, musicians, actors to schools where they will be able to develop their talents. And on top of that, we will still have to pay £3,600 insurance a year, so there will be a certain amount of fund-raising going on."

Theatre enthusiasts are invited to a treasure hunt this Sunday at Greenwich Park.

The event starts at 11am and visitors should meet members from the trust inside the main gates, by the Blackheath entrance. Admission is £4 for adults and £2 for children.

Mr Tappenden said the fact the trust had failed to receive crucial funding from Medway Council meant the end of the line for the decaying music hall.

Volunteers who have spent the last 15 years battling to restore the theatre to its former glory, were told this week that the campaign was over.

"It is primarily for health and safety reason that we are being forced to close to the public because if anything happened I couldn't live with myself," added Mr Tappenden.

The Theatre Royal was built in 1899 and up until 1955, the ambitious actors of Medway and the rest of the country performed there.