A FLEDGLING steering group in Banbury has issued a call to arms to help save an iconic theatre dating back to 1911.

Proposals to turn The Grand Theatre in Broad Street into 12 flats and three shops sparked a backlash after they were submitted to Cherwell District Council in December.

The consultation has closed but members of the community are determined the fight will go on and hope they can restore the site to its former glory.

Rob Kinchin-Smith, a member of Friends of The Grand Theatre, said: "The proposal is to hollow out the building to create 12 flats and two retail units.

"As well as reducing our historic art-deco cinema to a façade, the application also entails the loss of a large and versatile, purpose-built performance space of exactly the type and scale so desperately needed by the local community, local performers and local audiences.

"The huge support for the friends group indicates that there is a huge appetite for exactly the sort of community hub and performance space that The Grand could be."

The Grand began its life as a 500-seat theatre, nearly doubling in size in 1935 in its new incarnation as an Egyptian-themed cinema.

Later it would be used for 30 years as a bingo hall, then a nightclub and finally cocktail bar the Wonder Lounge.

Since 2014 there have been three attempts to convert The Grand, with the first deemed not financially viable and the second withdrawn after 100 public objections.

Mr Kinchin-Smith said: "Our mission is to restore and revive The Grand Theatre into a professionally-run theatre, cinema and performing arts space, but also to celebrate our unique heritage in active partnership with the local community securing a living legacy and saving our past for the future."

The newly-formed steering group includes Cherida Plumb, head of development at the Earth Trust in Little Wittenham, local dance school owner Kerry Jay, former Banbury Civic Society chairman Rob Kinchin-Smith and John Haywood, the chair of the North Oxfordshire Green Party.

People with expertise in a number of areas, including architecture and design, arts programming, cinema, IT, building surveying and maintenance, fundraising and HR are sought to help get the project moving, as well as all members of the public with a general interest in bringing The Grand back to life.

Anyone who would like to be involved is asked to email grandbanbury@gmail.com