Canterbury's £25.6m Marlowe Theatre has recorded a £236,000 deficit during its first six months of trading, according to a report put before Canterbury City Council's executive.

The report, however, expressed confidence that the financial issues had been mainly caused by "one-off start-up costs" and issues only identifiable once the venue had opened.

Catering start-up and essential training costs were seen as the primary reason for the deficit at Marlowe Theatre, which accounted for £100,000 according to the report.

A revenue fundraising shortfall worth £47,000 and an additional £67,000 investment in box office staff also contributed to the deficit, with the venue seeing high demand for tickets.

The report said: "The Marlowe is a brand new business with an annual projected turnover of £10m. Some management and operational issues could only be identified once the business had begun to operate.

"Given that the financial issues for this year relate mainly to one-off start-up costs, and that the core business of ticket sales is of proven success, the evidence suggests that in the long term, in a normal year, the new Marlowe will operate successfully."

Details: www.canterbury.gov.uk