CONTROVERSIAL cinema Harbour Lights will be used as a conference centre as well as a film theatre when it re-opens in the autumn.

Leisure officers in Southampton have confirmed that it will be written into any new agreement that a "small fraction" of time should be used for conferences.

Both Southampton University and the Institute are keen to use the venue.

The Oceanography Centre, next door to Harbour Lights, had been due to hire the cinema for a confer-ence this summer.

Five bids from commercial cinema chains to take over the cinema are still being evaluated by city council officers. Just one bidder has offered to buy out the assets, currently in the hands of liquidators and it is believed to be the favourite.

However, as the Echo revealed last month, this bidder is demanding a £20,000 subsidy from the city coun-cil each year for its first three years.

At a special leisure committee yesterday, opposition councillors said they were concerned at the length of time it was taking to get Harbour Lights re-opened.

The cinema shut in January after the city council refused to stump up another £100,000 to keep it going a further three months. The council had already subsidised it to the tune of some £2 million in four years.

It is due to re-open in the autumn. Deputy leisure boss Dave Hill said: "One of the reasons Harbour Lights failed is because of the poor summer it had last year and it is recognised that autumn would be a better time to re-launch."

The liquidation process is still going through the courts, and a further hearing is expected on June 11.

The cinema has substantial debts - including owing around £188,000 to the city council.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.