AN historic event in the Liphook calendar has come under threat, with the Liphook Academy of Dance facing a major increase in charges for the hire of the Millennium Centre for its annual event next year.

During a meeting of the Millennium Centre management committee, Rebecca Paris, owner of the Academy of Dance, was advised by chairman Michael Croucher that the parish council could not afford to sustain any further heavy discounting and full fees would apply after this year’s event.

Rebecca, who has staged the non-profit making show weekend each May for a number of years, featuring up to 100 local children and bringing more than 400 visitors into the centre, told The Herald: “The shows for 2016 will go ahead as planned at the Millennium Centre and being a Liphook dance school, I very much want to keep our big annual event in the village.

“A price increase was expected, but to more than double it for 2017 plus VAT makes the event unaffordable to children and parents.

“So sadly - unless we can come up with a very lucrative fundraising scheme – we will no longer be able to use the centre after 2016 – if the proposed increase with no discount persists.”

Historically the Liphook Academy of Dance has received a substantial discount, at a fee of £1,300 fee, for the hire of the Millennium Centre for their rehearsal and show weekends.

Millennium centre committee chairman Jane Ives explained how the centre had honoured the previous discount structure in 2015 as a goodwill gesture but because of the situation with subsidising local business and in fairness to other users a revised fee would need to be charged in 2016.

The figure of £1,475 plus VAT, making it £1,769 was agreed by councillors as the fee for 2016, but full rates would have to be charged in 2017, they said.