CORNBOW Hall is being sold off by owner Dudley Council in a blow for the town.

The council said the venue is losing £100k a year which "in the current climate is no longer sustainable."

It is in negotiations to sell the hall above Wilkos on Hagley Street which has been home to shows, pantos and concerts through the years and more recently as a community centre.

In 2017 the council launched an appeal to find an organisation to run the hall, which it would have kept ownership of.

Councillor Simon Phipps, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Enterprise, said: "It was hoped that another organisation could take on the venue and turn it around.

"Despite significant levels of public interest at the time, and a number of proposals being put forward over several years, none have proved viable."

He said an offer has been made by the current leaseholders of the building to buy the hall and that the council is "negotiating to sell the property as at this time it is the best possible financial option the council has."

Councillor Phipps said: “Like any organisation the council must seek the best possible value for money, even more so because our money comes from tax-payers.

"Unfortunately, the Cornbow Hall has been losing over £100,000 per year, which clearly in the current climate is no longer sustainable."

He added: "At this stage we’re not able to confirm what the building may or may not be used for in the future.

"I understand this may come as a disappointment to those who used it as a community venue, as it is for myself and my colleagues, but we will work closely with them to find suitable alternative venues for their activities."

Former Halesowen councillor Hilary Bills said she had heard the centre would close at the end of March.

She said: "This surely can't be fair on the people of Halesowen.

"Dudley, Stourbridge and Brierley Hill all have a central amenity for the arts but not Halesowen?

"Questions need to be asked about this, why are we only just learning that the hall is to close in March?

"We are losing our police station owing to lack of government funding in the police service since 2010, are we to lose out again because this Conservative Council doesn't want to invest in Halesowen?"