A DISGRUNTLED actor has given money he was supposed to pay for hiring Witney’s Corn Exchange to members of his cast.

Witney Town Council billed the Witney Theatre Company £723 after it hired the recently reopened listed building for a four-night production of The Accidental Death of an Anarchist.

But professional actor and screen writer Adrian Hewitt, who leads the group, refused to pay up because he said the venue was not up to scratch.

Instead, he has distributed the money between his actors.

The town council, meanwhile, insisted the venue was provided as advertised.

Mr Hewitt, who lives in Witney, said that when he hired the Corn Exchange for the four performances from July 9 to 12, he was promised there would be tiered seating. But he said he was told at the last minute it was not available.

He said no one was there to let the group in on the opening night, but an off-duty caretaker saved the performance by unlocking the doors.

Mr Hewitt said he was unable to advertise the production properly because his posters outside the venue were taken down and he received a panicked phone call from the council asking for a £150 deposit he had already paid.

He said: “My experience of dealing with Witney Town Council has been incredibly disappointing.

“Whenever I put posters outside the Corn Exchange, advertising an event they were removed at the first opportunity. “Then, just 24 hours before the first night, I got a phone call from one of the caretakers saying the seating that we had planned to use was now unavailable for health and safety reasons.

“My company had been rehearsing for nearly 100 hours, based around a stage design on the floor.

“There was no way it could be changed to using a stage in a few hours. This was totally unacceptable.”

He also said the foyer was untidy and looked like a “store room”.

The Corn Exchange reopened in June after being closed for three years. The town council said then that internal facilities, such as seating and sound systems, would be put in place gradually.

Council facilities manager Claire Swan said the tiered seating had never been promised and there was advertising space for A4 posters both inside and outside the venue.

She said Mr Hewitt should not have been able to use the venue at all before paying in full.