SOUTHAMPTON'S Mayflower theatre is set for a £2m refurbishment to ensure its survival as one of the south's top entertainment venues, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Bosses say the work is vital so the theatre can stage the big money-spinning West End shows that will guarantee its future.

The curtain will come down for around four months from May 3 until the end of August next year. It is hoped the theatre will reopen with a gala performance of the hit musical Miss Saigon.

The scheme is being paid for by the theatre's financial reserves and money raised from booking fees scheme introduced in January this year.

Work will include levelling the stage and removing around 100 seats from the stalls to create more room for theatre-goers.

It will reduce the theatre's capacity from 2,300 to 2,200 seats.

Other works include installing a new lift so that disabled audience members can gain access to all the theatre's levels. The scheme will also improve loading and unloading facilities for scenery at the rear of the theatre.

Bosses have been planning the refurbishment for just over a year. It will be the first major work done on the theatre since the 1980s when it changed its name from The Gaumont, which played host to top British pop bands such as the Rolling Stones and The Beatles in the 1960s.

Head of marketing and operations Paul Lewis said the work was needed so that the Mayflower could continue to stage top West End shows.

He said: "We rely on a regular stream of blockbuster musicals such as Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera. We need them coming in on a regular basis in order to continue to survive. Miss Saigon could not play the Mayflower with its current stage because the show is too big. Shows have increasingly high technical requirements and in order to stage them we have to 'flatten' the stage."

He added: "All we can say is that we are really sorry that this work necessitates such a long closure period but we have chosen a relatively quiet period to close.

"When we reopen, we hope to have one of the biggest shows to play at the Mayflower with Miss Saigon. The work will really be worthwhile and it will mean we can bring the biggest shows to the area and ensure we can serve the people in the region."