Groups interested in taking over the collapsed Sutton Theatres Trust have been given a deadline of Friday to lodge bids.

Administrators are seeking a buyer to take the reins of The Secombe, The Cryer or both venues after the company ran out of money earlier this month.

Nicola Fisher, of administrators Heron and Fisher, said: “We have got a number of interested parties and we have given them a bid deadline until Friday, so we should have a clearer picture early next week.”

RELATED: 'Theatre in Sutton has no future,' says director after closure of troubled venues

RELATED: Performing arts groups 'in limbo' following Sutton Theatres Trust collapse

She declined to give further about the bids until a deal had been finalised.

Sutton Theatres Trust went into administration, citing poor ticket sales, just over a year after taking over the council-owned venues, which had previously been threatened with closure.

It ran into financial troubles despite running the venues rent-free for the first 15 months of a 10-year lease.

Beri Juraic, the trust’s director, last week told the Sutton Guardian that he believed theatre in the borough “has no future”.

All upcoming performances at The Secombe, in Sutton town centre, and The Cryer, in Carshalton, have been cancelled.