Coalville's Century Theatre has been awarded £250,000 in the second round of Culture Recovery Fund grants from Arts Council England.

It is the highest sum given out in the East Midlands region.

The funding is open to cultural organisations - both profit and not for profit - based in England to help them through the Coronavirus pandemic which has hit the arts and entertainment industry hard.

Coalville councillor Terri Eynon said on Facebook: "I am delighted at the £250k Arts Council funding coming to the Century Theatre to help it recover from Covid19."

Designed and built between 1948 and 1952, Century Theatre is Britain's oldest surviving travelling theatre.

It was later renovated and reassembled on a purpose-built site, adjoining the historic mine buildings of the former Snibston Colliery.

Since re-opening in 1997, the theatre says it continues to play an ever-increasing role in the local community and surrounding area, hosting a vast range of high quality shows and arts activities, including classic drama, live music, comedy, dance and films.

A total of 588 cultural organisations across England will benefit from a share of more than £76 million, building on the funding awarded from the Government's £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.

This takes the total to £333 million awarded to support arts and culture this week.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: "This is more vital funding to protect cultural gems across the country, save jobs and prepare the arts to bounce back.

"Through Arts Council England we are delivering the biggest ever investment in the arts in record time.

"Hundreds of millions of pounds are already making their way to thousands of organisations.

"These awards build on our commitment to be here for culture in every part of the country."

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said: "Culture is an essential part of life across the country, helping to support people's wellbeing through creativity and self-expression, bringing communities together, and fuelling our world class creative industries.

"This latest set of awards from the Culture Recovery Fund builds on those announced recently and will help hundreds of organisations to survive the next few months, ensuring that the cultural sector can bounce back after the crisis.

"We will continue doing everything we can to support artists and cultural and creative organisations, with further funding to be announced in the coming weeks."