The cost of providing a temporary theatre was almost double what was predicted, with the budget soaring to a staggering £2.6 million.

The price of building Orchard West following the discovering of RAAC in the roof of The Orchard Theatre in Dartford was expected to cost £1.5m.

The money was allocated for the project from Dartford council’s reserve funds.

But final costings made available ahead of the council’s scrutiny committee meeting next Tuesday (Feb 13) have revealed an additional £1.1m has been needed.

The extra funds were necessary to cover the cost of site security at the makeshift theatre, in Hythe Street, which amounted to £42,657.

There were other additional costs relating to fire risk and health and safety which came to £124,602; sound mitigation and contingency which came to £126,895 and mains drainage connection which amounted to £455,216.

Leader of the Dartford Labour Party Cllr Jonathon Hawkes is unhappy the council was allowed to make a decision based on estimated costs that were then far exceeded.

He said: "These additional costs to Dartford taxpayers of over £1m are significant and the Conservative Cabinet need to explain why they got the original estimate so wrong.

“Labour Councillors will be asking those questions at the Scrutiny meeting next week.

“Residents need answers as to why some of the additional costs – for site security and sound mitigation – were not foreseen.”

With the additional £7m to repair the roof at The Orchard, Cllr Hawkes said he was very concerned at the apparent “poor financial management” of the project.

He added: “It now means that the total bill from the collapse of the Orchard theatre is now approaching £10m. That falls on Dartford taxpayers.

“Coming at a time when the Conservative Council are proposing to increase everyone's council tax bills, local people in Dartford have a right to expect the council are responsible with their money.”

The theatre was rapidly built as a replacement for The Orchard, in Home Gardens, which was forced to shut in September following the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in its roof.

Construction on the new building began at the start of November and was completed in time for the launch of its pantomine Beauty and the Beast in December.

Speaking at the unveiling of the new theatre, Caroline Hicks, director of growth and community at Dartford council, said the news The Orchard was being forced to close “left everyone in a bit of a tailspin”.

But she said there was no question of not finding an alternative venue to ensure the show could go on.

Ms Hicks said: “The Orchard is really at the heart of the community. It is our main entertainment venue. The local economy feeds off of it.

“It was going to impact such a huge number of businesses and local people and those who come and visit that it was really important for us to keep that cultural life and ensure our community wasn't impacted yet again after Covid.”

In the agenda for Dartford council’s scrutiny committee meeting, the reasons behind providing a temporary theatre were stated.

They included safeguarding the local economy, with the theatre said to generate an economic impact of £4.6m in the local economy in 2022/23, safeguarding jobs linked to the theatre and continuing the cultural offerings for Dartford residents,

It stated: “Given both the speed of mobilising the project and the complexities of doing so, additional costs not identified at the point of the original decision to proceed have come to light.

“It was not possible to identify these costs earlier as they have largely emerged from later engagement with partner agencies once the process of construction had commenced.”