The closure of Yeadon Town Hall because of safety fears over the electrical system will cost an amateur theatre group thousands of pounds in lost income.

Yeadon Charities Association has been forced to transfer its pantomime Aladdin later this month to Guiseley Theatre - which only has half the seating capacity.

Jean Shaw, the association's ticket secretary, said she expected to lose more than £9,000 - half of its normal pantomime receipts of £18,000.

And she said the association would press for compensation from Leeds City Council which owns the building and was prepared to take their case to court to recover its losses.

Some matinee performances had been fully booked and Mrs Shaw said she has had to juggle with bookings to suit the new seating limitations. And in some cases, groups making block bookings have had to cancel because they could not make a changed date.

"We have lost more than 200 seats in block bookings because of the move to Guiseley," she said.

And the group also stood to lose about £1,000 from the sale of sweets, ice cream and drinks because Guiseley Operatic Society would be in charge of these arrangements.

Leeds Council closed Yeadon Town Hall on December 15 because the electrical system was considered too dangerous. The Council was unavailable to comment about the possibility of legal action for compensation.

Mrs Shaw said: "It has been an horrendous problem for us and since the announcement of the town hall's closure we have worked every day through Christmas and the New Year trying to sort out our bookings. This has meant contacting numerous organisations who have made block bookings and asking them if they would like to attend another performance.

"One or two groups, including disabled people, have said they did not wish to go to Guiseley Theatre while others just could not attend on another occasion."

In a bid to cope with the seating problem the association has decided to put in an extra matinee performance. There are to be matinee performances on Saturdays, January 16 and 23 and two performances on Sunday, January 17.

A spokesman for Leeds Council said: "We have been successful in finding alternative temporary accommodation for groups using Yeadon Town Hall.

"We have made every effort to ensure that they can continue in their activities and will continue to liaise with each of them to consider their individual circumstances."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.