The leader of Scarborough Council defends plans to re-open to town's open-air theatre in June
We've been speaking to the Scarborough Council leader Steve Siddons on this matter
Plans to resume concerts at Scarborough's open-air theatre in June have been defended by the Council's leader.
It's after calls for the venue to start putting events on again from the 17th May, once lockdown restrictions ease up.
Steve Siddons says it's not that simple though:
"These things have to be planned many months in advance. The loosening of restrictions from the middle of May aren't guaranteed either; they're the earliest dates at which they could happen.
"It's also very difficult to change an event, like one at the open-air Theatre, at short notice.
"Artists are busy, they have other commitments, but I think the most important thing is that we have to think about public safety and not rush into this.
"There's an opportunity for us to extend the season at the other end, and we'll do that if we possibly can, but there's a huge amount of money which goes into these concerts.
"Trying to accomplish all this on a reduced capacity is very difficult.
"The artists quite often don't want to play to reduced audiences either; they like to see a packed audience, as it helps with their performance.
"For all of those reasons, we thought it'd be best to play it safe and go for a slightly later start."
You can see the full #LeadersinLockdown interview with Scarborough Council leader Steve Siddons below:
Meanwhile, our full #LeadersinLockdown interview with Richard Burton, who's the leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, can be viewed below: