The chair of a charitable trust that now runs the town’s arts venue has defended a decision to put up its rates.

Alan Goldsmith, chairman of the Bocking Arts Theatre Trust, said the changes were necessary in order to turn the venue into an arts theatre that the town can be proud of.

He said the council’s running of the former Braintree Institute was no longer feasible as it was losing £100,000 a year.

A board of trustees took over the building, in Bocking End, in November last year, and has since started a refurbishment programme.

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