Work to install a lift at Pateley Playhouse is underway as part of a £35,000 renovation project.

The theatre began a fundraising campaign in December to raise £20,000. It hopes to be eligible for grants to cover the remaining £15,000.

Donations to a crowdfunding page are now approaching £3,000 while further donations directly to the theatre have brought in £14,000.

Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society has begun the work before the appeal has finished so the renovations can be completed while the theatre is closed due to covid.

The lift will make the 1930s building fully accessible to disabled people. Currently the first floor auditorium is only accessible via two steep staircases.

So far, the bulk of work has been done on the lower level to knock down the walls separating the changing rooms and the foyer area to create the required space for the lift.

The work is scheduled to be completed by autumn when, it is hoped, covid restrictions will be lifted in time for performances to be staged before the end of the year.

The theatre has received two large donations from West Riding Masonic Charities Ltd and the Vale of Nidd Masonic Lodge, totalling £2,500.

Jerry Anderson, charity steward for the Vale of Nidd Masonic Lodge, said:

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