Wallingford's Corn Exchange Theatre faces closure if a £500,000 refurbishment project does not go ahead, it has been claimed.

General manager Philip Burton told a meeting of the Sinodun Players, which owns the theatre, that any delay could mean closure because of health and safety, disability discrimination and child performance regulations.

The owners want changes to the 150-year-old building in Market Place so that it can be used as a cinema and theatre at the same time.

They also want facilities inside the building brought up to date.

The theatre is familiar to millions of television viewers as the Cawston Theatre in the long-running series Midsomer Murders.

Details of the plans were revealed in September and last week the Players put in a formal planning application to complete the work to South Oxfordshire District Council.

A proposal for the work to be delayed was defeated three-to-one as Players members voted to allocate more funds to the refurbishment project.

Mr Burton said: "We are trying to gain planning and listed building approval and attempting to produce full specifications and quotations for all elements of the project.

"This will enable us to go out to grants giving bodies to apply for funding."

Trustee Chris Harris said: "There has been passionate argument for and against but all members have the future long term success of the Sinodun Players and their theatre at heart."

A fundraising team has been set up to raise the £60,000 the society will need towards the £500,000 project.

The plans are on show to the public in the theatre's Curtis Room where coffee is served every Saturday morning.