SQUATTERS have again forced entry to the abandoned Redgrave Theatre in East Street despite Waverley Borough Council spending £5,000 to secure the building last December.

According to police, the theatre was broken into sometime between 8pm on November 16 and 7.30pm the next day after intruders broke-open a padlock. Officers later found items of clothing inside, but nothing appeared to have been stolen.

It comes after Waverley acted on Surrey Police’s advice following an increase in anti-social behaviour last year, to establish a secure fence line around the Redgrave to prevent entry into the building and access to the roof.

The Redgrave, built in the early 1970s as an extension to Brightwell House, sits at the centre of Waverley Borough Council’s proposed Brightwells regeneration scheme, and has been boarded up since 1999.

Waverley’s development partner Crest Nicholson Sainsbury’s submitted a fresh application for listed building consent to demolish the Redgrave and convert the attached Grade II-listed Brightwell House into two restaurants earlier this month.

Members of the public can view and comment on the plans online at www.waverley.gov.uk/planning by searching for reference WA/2017/2028. The deadline for comments is December 8.