MALVERN Theatres has successfully 'rehomed' all of its old Festival Theatre seats, raising £15,000 towards the cost of refurbishing the theatre and ensuring that nothing went to landfill.

The new seats have now been installed and tested by the first audiences who came to watch the Ruth Rendell classic Gallowglass, which runs till Saturday, January 27.

The majority of the old seats were bought by local people who wanted to own a bit of theatre history, while also supporting the venue.

Joanne Lloyd, from Cradley, collected seats for her children Bertie and Iris.

She said: "I’ve lived here all my life and always watched things at the theatre and so I wanted our children to have the seats as a memento. We’re going to put them in the garage so they can watch daddy working.”

Nic Lloyd, Malvern Theatres chief executive, said: ‘I’m delighted with the progress of the project, which brings new levels of comfort to the Festival Theatre and equips the venue for many years to come.

"I’m very grateful to everyone who contributed to the campaign, both through donations and through the purchase of the original seats”.

The rest of the money for the theatre's £311,000 refurbishment was raised through the Malvern Theatres Tomorrow Campaign.

To donate to the theatre's refurbishment fund, visit malvern-theatres.co.uk.