Impresario pledges £7m for theatres' facelift

Sir Cameron Mackintosh pledged £7m yesterday to improve the look of his theatres as a way of helping clean up London's West End.

Leading figures in British theatre have denounced the state of the West End, saying theatregoers are put off by the squalor and transport problems. Theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue have added extra lightsto deter potential criminals.

But Sir Cameron, who owns seven West End theatres, is making the added point that theatre owners have a duty to improve the fabric of the capital. The impresario will initially renovate two of his theatres: the Strand and the Prince of Wales, the Art Deco frontage of which will benefit from a "contemporary interpretation".

His pledge follows complaints about the West End's "squalor" by Howard Panter, the head of the Ambassador Theatre Group, who said drunks were deterring theatregoers.

Sir Cameron's stance won support yesterday from Thelma Holt, a theatre producer, who said the industry had a duty to put its own house in order instead of blaming Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and the state of the capital's streets for poor audiences. "We have always known Cameron would bite the bullet," she said.

The impresario said he hoped his work would help restore the glory of the West End. "For many years, I have declared my concern for the state of the West End," he said.

"We have a unique treasury of Edwardian and Victorian theatres and we are committed to improving our audiences' experience when they visit them. We hope our efforts will help to make London, once again, the most vibrant and attractive city in the world."