CONTROVERSIAL plans for a council to take on £6.5m debt to help bankroll the refurbishment of the privately-owned Globe theatre have been 'called in' by a coalition of councillors.

Stockton Borough Council agreed to borrow the cash last month but, following the call-in, it will now have to pass an additional hurdle.

Conservative councillor Matt Vickers has led a coalition of councillors to push for further scrutiny on the additional debt the council would be taken on.

And a 'call-in' has been signed by Conservative, Liberal Democrat and some independent councillors – meaning the decision will be taken back to the council's Executive Scrutiny Committee to face questions.

He said councillors were concerned by plans to borrow more money, while the project had not been audited, alternative developers had not been offered the opportunity to bid for the work and that the council had not assessed the liabilities of the other partners for the spiralling costs.

He said: "The theatre which was originally expected to open its doors in 2012 after a £4million refurbishment remains unopened and now the raw cost of the refurbishment is expected to reach at least £26.75million.

"Aside from this the council will face interest on its loan, a lease/rent on the building from its owners and it’s also going to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to the operator to run and promote the business. At a recent meeting the Council leader and chief executive were unable to confirm what the total cost of the project is likely to be.

He added:“I’d like to see the Globe open and be a success - but you can’t throw an endless amount of taxpayer money at a project without ensuring it is being properly spent.

“We don’t own the building and these vast amounts of money will mean leaving a debt behind to the next generation of Stocktonians - there’s lots of questions that need answering.

“There seems to be a rush to take on this debt whilst asking as few questions as possible and failing to learn any lessons.

"We should put all the options on the table; auditing the project, assessing the liabilities of others and considering alternative developers so as to be able to make a fully informed decision in the interests of the taxpayer."

Stockton Council confirmed the decision had been called in. The meeting will be held on July 29.