A public push to reopen a closed theatre in Somerset has received a welcome boost in the form of new seats from the other side of the country.

The Amulet Theatre, located off Market Place in Shepton Mallet, provided entertainment to local residents between 1975 and 2011, and is currently listed on the Theatres Trust's theatres at risk register.

Shepton Mallet residents have been campaigning to save the building and reopen it as a working theatre, seeking grant funding from the government and voluntary organisations to bring the project to life.

Somerset Council included the venue among three others as part of a £5m funding bid to central government, with the outcome expected to be announced by the end of March.

In the meantime, the Let's Buy The Amulet campaign group has received a physical boost in the form of 400 new seats, donated from the Cambridge Arts Theatre as part of its £16m revamp.

The Amulet was purpose built in 1975 as a theatre and community venue, forming part of a larger town remodelling project funded by the Showering family, the creators of the famous Babycham drink.

Designed in the Brutalist style, it contains a number of unusual features,

including a scenery fly tower, generous performer dressing rooms, an extendable stage and a large auditorium with unique raked seating for 270 people – which rises vertically to reveal a sprung dance floor for 350 people.

The theatre's original seats were destroyed by a water leak several years ago, with the cost of replacement seats being quoted at £70,000.

The donated seats from the Cambridge Arts Centre will be placed in storage pending the outcome of a funding bid to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Project team member Martin Berkeley said: "We have a very strong bid

prepared for whenever new funding is announced.

"Our team is very excited to have this gift of theatre seats, which we will keep in storage until we have reopened the Amulet."

The government announced in early-March 2024 that the former Mendip area would be eligible for up to £5m in grants for cultural regeneration projects, as part of the Conservatives' wider levelling up agenda.

Following a formal request by Shepton Mallet Town Council in late-April 2024, Somerset Council included the Amulet in an official bid for this funding – alongside the Cheese and Grain music venue, the Lucky Chance theatre (both in Frome) and the Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury.

Following the general election, reports circulated that the new Labour government would be scrapping this fund as part of a wider review of central government spending.

Somerset Council has stated that its funding bid was still being reviewed, with a final decision being expected in a matter of weeks.

A spokesman said: "Given the need to make savings, the government announced after the autumn budget in October 2024, that it was minded to withdraw funding from the levelling up culture projects and capital regeneration projects announced at the spring budget in 2024, but it will consult the affected places before making final decisions.

"An evaluation form was sent to the council, which we have since filled in and returned (with a letter of support from MP Sarah Dyke), and we are awaiting the outcome at some point in March."