THE Borough Director met a barrage of criticism from councillors at a meeting over the huge overspend on the Palace Theatre facelift.

Council officers had to explain to its executive committee on Wednesday why there was an overspend of more than £280,000.

The council spent an extra £90,000 on repairing problems to the roof, which only came to light when parts of the building were demolished.

It also spent money on more urinals, changes to staircases, asbestos removal, extra bar equipment, more smoke vents, unforseen work to the foundations and many other items.

Conservative group leader Councillor Carole Gandy said: "I can't believe that, with a project of this scale, we didn't allow for the many other expenses which would quite predictably occur.

"We should have had a contingency figure which would have allowed for any extra work which would be needed, which means we wouldn't have been faced with this huge overspend."

Borough Director Chris Smith said: "It was believed the money for the roof work could come from an existing revenue budget but it couldn't, it had to come from the capital budget - which made it an overspend.

"It was very complicated."

Councillor Colin Macmillan said: "The fact it was complicated is not an excuse.

"If a situation is complicated, then we should be geared to deal with it. This is not free money and shouldn't be treated as such."

After the meeting, Mr Smith said: "The unallocated contingency sum within the original contract was approximately £100,000. I'm satisfied with the planning and the role undertaken by our consultants.

"Historically, the council has not allowed contingency sums within projects of this nature.

"Members agreed for officers to bring back a report that will seek to address this issue.''