ONE of Bournemouth’s MPs has come out in support of the Pier Theatre, which could close.

As revealed by the Daily Echo, the historic venue could be shut by operators Openwide International, which says falling audiences and high running costs mean it has lost almost £400,000 in the last five years.

As a result, they want to ask councillors to give them permission to turn it into an adventure sports attraction.

But already a campaign is mobilising to save the theatre and make it a success and Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns has added his voice.

Yesterday the Echo reported that showbiz producer Lee Redwood was planning to launch a campaign and that keeping the theatre open was also backed by both former Mayor Doug Eyre – who fought to save the Winter Gardens – and the town’s former publicity boss for entertainment venues Tony Hardman.

Mr Burns told the Echo: “If you look at what’s happened to the other seaside towns, they’ve gone down a certain road and lost their appeal. Bournemouth has got to maintain its family reputation.

“The waterfront is Bournemouth’s main attraction, so to have a theatre on the waterfront, it ought to be a sustainable commercial proposition and rather than throwing the towel in they should be looking at getting more things in there that are attractive to the public and visitors.”

Revealing the plans last week, managing director of Openwide Steve Cutbush said just 16,000 tickets were bought for the Pier Theatre last year, while the Pavilion sold 206,000.

The idea would be to change the theatre into an adventure sports attraction with a surf training wave, climbing walls and high ropes courses.

Changes to the theatre would cost in the region of £3m.