Jobs could be lost at the Rose Theatre as it struggles to make up a £100,000 council funding cut.

An email sent out to trustees said a number of full time positions were at risk after the theatre was forced to carry out a review of staffing costs and operations.

The move has prompted some critics to call for a shakeup of the theatre’s management and the resignation of its chairman Anthony Simonds-Gooding.

One trustee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I don’t know how much the Rose will suffer as a result [of the redundancies].

“But I’d argue there are other ways to save money, but more importantly to make money, which they seem to have forgotten.

“I think it’s probably time the executive team had a shake-up.”

The letter stated that the employees whose positions were at risk of redundancy had been informed and a consultation period was underway.

It said: “One full-time position is being created along with some part-time work. Savings are also being made in budgets for non-permanent staff.”

It went on to state that while job descriptions might change for other staff, it was not currently considering any more redundancies.

The Rose Theatre saw its annual subsidy reduced from £600,000 to £500,000, when Kingston Council unveiled £13m of savings in January.

Councillors originally agreed a £1.8m, three-year “New Deal” to keep the theatre open, at the end of 2008.

In January this year the council's budget handed the venue £2.5m of taxpayers' money over five years.

Nick Kilby, former councillor and Surbiton resident, denied the problem facing The Rose was a lack of funding.

He said: “Kingston Council and Kingston University are providing enough support to give this theatre the opportunity to fly but it won’t while the current management team is in place.”

He called for artistic director Stephen Unwin and executive director David Fletcher to be replaced, but also called for the resignation of Chairman Anthony Simonds-Gooding, and said non-Kingston trustees should be asked to leave.

Mr Fletcher said: “We look outside the box, inside the box and look at the box in every possible direction. If people think it’s time for us to go then they are entitled to say that, but that’s people’s opinion.”

He said he had no plans to leave and had been working hard on ensuring the theatre’s success.

He added that no final decisions had been made about job losses and refused to give figures of exactly how much they were looking to save.

Mr Fletcher said: “We will be managing on a bit less from the council in the future so we are challenged like everybody else is challenged.”

He revealed the consultation was planned for completion this Friday, June 3, but availability issues meant it had been delayed slightly.