People with tickets for shows at the troubled Priestley theatre in Bradford have been told not to panic.

Although administrators have been called in at the Little Germany theatre, the Christmas and New Year season of shows is definitely safe.

Chairman of the Priestley Tom Sandford said yesterday: "The theatre remains open and is hosting a number of performances in the run-up to Christmas. It also has a busy season planned for the new year. Seasonal highlights include Dracula Spectacular, Pieces of Pinter, Frost and Fire and Pinocchio."

A spokeswoman for the adminstrators, Begbies Traynor, said that anyone with tickets for these shows need not worry and that they will be on as advertised while they try to find a solution to the theatre's financial problems.

It was announced yesterday that the adminstrators had been called in after the historic theatre's financial struggles became too much. The Priestley has its origins in the early 1930s when the Bradford Civic Theatre was founded as a branch of the Leeds Civic Theatre.

It changed its name to Bradford Playhouse & Theatre in the late 1950s and was re-named The Priestley Centre for the Arts in the mid 1990s after the building was refurbished following a fire which threatened to destroy the premises.

In 2001 the Priestley Centre came close to closing with debts of £14,000, which was off-set by a Telegraph & Argus campaign which raised more than £11,000. Bradford Council added to that to reach a total sum of about £25,000.

In January 2003 The Priestley closed for business after its former board of directors proposed to go into liquidation after struggling for 14 months to find around £60,000 it owed to creditors and further funding to secure its long-term future.