A youth drama company has been left homeless as the county council pushes ahead with plans to close a town's only theatre.

The Roundhouse is set to be converted into office space as part of the proposed redevelopment of the Discovery Centre in the heart of Dover town centre.

Kent County Council's (KCC) infrastructure department has applied for permission to convert the performance space in the Market Square, which has long been the home of the Blackfish Academy for the Performing Arts.

A campaign to save the facility - which is now included on the Theatre Trust's national list of at-risk venues - has been orchestrated by Dover Town Council, which says it remains "strongly opposed" to the decision to close the theatre.

"The loss of the only public performance space in Dover will deprive our deprived community of cultural opportunities, performance and training opportunities for young people and a space for public gatherings and enjoyment," a town council spokesman said.

"We have opposed the planning application, as have Dover District Council and hundreds of members of the community.

"A petition opposing the closure has several thousand signatures and we have repeatedly asked KCC to reconsider its plan to convert this special space into offices for support staff."

The Discovery Centre, which stands between the Market Square and York Street, was originally built to house the White Cliffs Experience tourist destination.

However the ill-fated attraction was forced to close because of poor visitor numbers, and the building eventually became home to the town's library, office space and the intimate Roundhouse theatre.

Blackfish chairman Mike Scurfield says the group has been left in limbo since its lease ended in June and it had to vacate the building earlier this summer.

"We have had to empty everything out, we couldn't get them to change their mind," he said.

"It is the only theatre in Dover, it's a registered community asset, the only real performance space apart from a couple of schools in the town.

"The difficulty with schools, of course, is that they belong to the school and they're not always available when people want to use them.

"KCC promised us it would find a suitable premises, or certainly help us look for suitable premises, which they didn't do.

"We still have no idea where we're going to be. We are in limbo, we're not performing anything.

"We're not actually making a production and we're not making money, so we have to be very careful about renting space, we could very quickly become bankrupt."

A consultation over the planned refurbishment of the building, which would see a number of cosmetic changes as well as the conversion of the theatre, runs until August 25.

A spokesman for KCC said: "A feasibility study in February 2020 identified that the existing building footprint could not house all of the differing uses, including the theatre space, without extending the building.

"It is understandably disappointing for the Blackfish Academy, who have enjoyed using the theatre space.

"Keen to find a way forward to also safeguard the valuable work of the Blackfish Academy, council officers have attempted to work with them on alternative locations that could suit their requirements.

"Four have so far been identified, including partnerships with local schools. To date, these have all been rejected. It is hoped dialogue can continue."