Performing arts groups have been left “in limbo” by the collapse of the company that runs two Sutton theatres.

Sutton Theatres Trust, which runs council-owned venues The Secombe and The Cryer, went into administration on Thursday after it emerged it owed thousands of pounds to a major comedy promoter.

It came just a day after the company’s PR manager told the Sutton Guardian it had “no financial Issues”, despite comedy agency Off the Kerb pulling the plug on five high-profile performances that had been scheduled to take place at The Secombe in the next three months.

The news that administrators Herron Fisher have taken over Sutton Theatres left other theatre groups and customers fearing they will be left out of pocket.

Nadine Innes, principal at Performance Arts Academy in Battersea, had booked a slot that cost between £3,000 and £4,000 for her students to perform their triennial show at The Secombe next year.

She said: “It was like a horror story when I read that on the Sutton Guardian website.

“We paid a lot of money to hire the venue for our students to perform their big show in March next year.

“For a big business that kind of money might not be a problem, but for us it’s a large amount of money. If that’s lost I may have to tell my kids we are not going to have a beef roast tonight, but that it’s going to have to be beans on toast.

“But the worst thing is that we haven’t heard anything from them about what is happening. To not hear anything from them almost a week later after it was reported is appalling, it’s really bad. I’m in limbo.

“We’ve approached a number of other theatres, but they are all fully booked, so we are left without a venue and that’s what I might have to tell the children on the first day back in September.”

Sutton Council handed over control of the two theatres to the trust in June 2015, a move it trumpeted as having saved the venues from closure.

The council had proposed to shut down the two theatres, which it spent it £482,000 a year to run. It said it had been forced to spend £11.21 and £6.81 to subsidise each visit to The Cryer and The Secombe respectively.

Following the takeover, audiences figures at both venues doubled to 24 per cent of full capacity but remained “too low to continue operating,” a trust spokeswoman said last week.

She added: “There was no more money to invest in the company and there appears to be no prospect of a sale of the business outside of an insolvency process. It was therefore decided to put the company into administration to allow the administrators to try to find such a buyer.”

Joe Bromley, who co-runs children’s theatre company Really Big Pants, who performed at The Secombe on July 30, said she had been unaware Sutton Theatres were on the brink of collapse. She added it was a “real shame” the venues had closed.

She said: “Four days before we did our show we saw the notice on the website that said the box office had gone down, but when we spoke to them about it they told us it was because of technical problems.

“When we held our performance everything was great, the staff were wonderful and supportive. We performed not too long ago so we haven’t had a chance to invoice them. Although, following the news that was reported yesterday we probably won’t invoice them now.

“It is a real shame that they have closed. Having theatres available to people locally is a great way to get children involved in the arts. I’m sure parents will be able to tell you how difficult it can be to take children long distances and now people will have to go further to see shows, or get involved.”