CAMPAIGNERS may have won a stay of execution for Spring Gardens Arts Centre in High Wycombe, which is set to close on May 31.

The centre could stay open for another year if the cost of keeping it open is shown to be cheaper than securing the property while it awaits redevelopment.

At Thursday's meeting of Buckinghamshire County Council, Julia Wassell, the member for Keep Hill and Hicks Farm, pointed out that the council would have to cough up £12,000 a year to protect the building from vandalism before it was redeveloped - £2,000 more than was needed to keep it open.

Mark Taylor, cabinet member with responsibility for properties, told Midweek that the centre could get a maximum year's grace if the cost of keeping it open was lower than the cost of mothballing it.

Spring Gardens Arts Centre had its funding withdrawn in 1997 when the county council made huge cuts to its budget.

The council decided to sell the site for housing. Wycombe District Council stepped in with £10,000 a year to keep it open but that money has now stopped.

Cllr Wassell said the centre should stay open while the council got on with plans to develop the site and there was no reason why the development should not incorporate a new arts centre.

Malcolm Blanksby, chairman of the centre's management committee, said community arts need a focal point in High Wycombe and without the centre it would be lost.