A bitter war of words has erupted between Sutton Council and a theatre boss following the closure of the borough’s two main venues.

Beri Juraic, former director of Sutton Theatres Trust, criticised the authority’s handling of the Secombe and the Cryer theatres, which shut in August after his company went into administration.

But Cllr Jill Whitehead, who oversaw the deal to outsource the running of the council-owned theatres, described his comments as “disappointing” and suggested Mr Juraic “consider his own role, rather than blame the council for the failings of Sutton Theatres Trust”.

The company collapsed just 14 months into a ten-year lease of the venues, citing a lack of funding and audience numbers “too low to continue operating”.

In an opinion piece for trade publication The Stage, Mr Juraic last week said Sutton Council had broken “promises of support to both us and the local community groups in the form of grant, adding a £150,000 local arts budget had been “secretly scrapped”.

He added “huge employee liabilities” and poorly maintained buildings had provided “too much for a small non-profit organisation, revealing a collapsed toilet ceiling caused by a wrongly installed boiler had forced Sutton Theatres to postpone its opening season at the Cryer, in Carshalton.

He also accused some amateur theatre groups of failing to support to the venues, claiming they “took the council’s support for granted and refused to accept changes in the way the venues were run” or pay hire fees.

The UK’s Brexit vote also thwarted a planned 2017/18 European theatre programme by thrusting funding arrangements and collaborations with overseas partners into doubt, said Mr Juraic.

He added: “The demise of the theatres in Sutton should therefore be a lesson for us all.

“If we do not invest in our local audiences first and foremost, Britain might become a cultural wasteland.

“A serious rethink from all involved is needed on how to fund venues at a local level to enable them to develop audiences long term and to counteract the current bleak prospective, after the EU referendum result and years of austerity measures.”

Cllr Whitehead, chair of the council’s environment and neighbourhood committee, insisted the council had given Sutton Theatres “the best chance of success” and “the best possible start” and accused the company of failing to properly promote shows.

In an unusually outspoken comments, she said: “It is disappointing then to read Mr Juraic’s comments, given how well he promoted his ability to lead the theatres into profitability. He should perhaps consider his own role, rather than blame the council for the failings of Sutton Theatres Trust.

“He failed to make it work, and that failure will further damage the cause of local theatre in Sutton. To try and lay the blame at the door of those who tried to help you the most, without recognising your own role, is disingenuous at least.”

She added: “The Trust benefitted from 15 months of rent-free use of the theatres, received free repair work to the theatres before the transfer, and received the equipment and fittings the Trust needed to succeed. Usually when you take a building on a lease, you take on responsibilities.

“At no point did the Trust ever indicate any financial problems when meeting with the council. We were therefore as surprised as many to learn of their failure.

“Many residents I have spoken to were concerned, however, by the Trust’s approach to theatre production and promotion. Many residents suggested shows could be better advertised in the borough, noting there were no posters or leaflets in our local shops, on our noticeboards or interestingly, in our local newspapers.”

But Mr Juraic hit back, telling the Sutton Guardian: “The 15-month rent free period was negotiated for several reasons and I had to fight for it hard, even though in commercial property dealings this period would be below market on such 10-year lease.

“The Trust also had to pay for redundancy costs for the former business manager, which cost £60,000 that for some reason the council did not want to pay although they paid out many other employees.

“As to the ‘free’ repair work to the theatres before the transfer, the council owned the theatres before the transfer so naturally they were responsible for all repairs to transfer operational, functional and safe buildings. As such we didn’t receive any repairs, they were done on the council-owned and operated buildings as part of their regular and statutory maintenance.

“Furthermore, instead of fixing roof leaks at the Secombe, the council installed water-absorbing materials on the roof that created an impression it was fixed while in fact water was accumulating on top of the roof, so it leaked at the first sign of rain.”

Mr Juraic also claimed the council refused to let his company use its noticeboards to advertise shows, as they had been when the venues were council-run.

A petition to save Sutton’s theaters has gained more than 1,000 signatures and can be viewed here.