But Amateurs stalwart Keith Marsden was disappointed this week to discover local people could buy tickets in person only during weekday office hours. Mr Marsden urges people who cannot go to the centre through the week to order tickets by phoning him on 606567.

The centre, which is run by Bradford council, stopped opening on Saturdays about three months ago as a cost-saving measure.

The centre offers a range of services including ticket sales for local shows, information leaflets, council job vacancies and help with contacting other council departments.

Patrick Lawton, the council's Keighley co-ordinator, says up to 400 people use the centre each weekday but no more than 40 went on a Saturday.

He says most of these people could not be helped immediately because the council departments they wanted to contact were closed at weekends.

He adds: "I had to balance Saturday opening against possible closure at other times through the week. We monitored the number of callers for the previous few months."

People unable to go to the centre on a weekday can order tickets by post by sending an SAE. These will be sent out the same day.

The centre can be contacted on 01535 618014.

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