BIG names are backing a youth theatre which is under threat due to council cuts.

Stagecoach Youth Theatre looks set to lose its £9,500 annual grant, as City of York Council tries to make savings in next year's budget.

Bosses at the Monkgate-based theatre say their battle to save it is gaining momentum, with a flood of letters being sent to council leader Steve Galloway from parents and supporters.

The theatre's high profile patrons, including playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn and Lord Feversham, of Duncombe Park, Helmsley, have thrown their weight behind the campaign.

Theatre director John Cooper has written to another patron, Dame Judi Dench, asking for her support.

In his letter to Coun Galloway, published in the Evening Pres today, Sir Alan said Stagecoach gave confidence and inspiration to young people in the city.

He said: "At a time when it is increasingly important to motivate the youth in our cities for the good, youth theatres such as Stagecoach provide a vital service involving a wide range of young people in a creative group activity."

Lord Feversham told Coun Galloway that the move would deal a "death blow" to the youth group.

He said: "Young people in York need things to do, and it is better that they should be engaged in Stagecoach than doing antisocial things."

The plan to reduce the grant by £2,000 a year until 2009, when it will be cut entirely, will be voted on by councillors on Monday as part of the annual budget-setting process.

Youngsters from the theatre, which stages seven major productions a year and has 140 members, have launched a campaign to halt the cuts.

They hope to hand a petition to Coun Galloway on the eve of the vital budget vote.

Theatre director John Cooper said: "It is fantastic to have the backing of our patrons. They have always been very supportive of us and we really appreciate their help at this time.

"We are hugely encouraged by the level of support we have received. We very much hope it will have an effect.

"We are feeling very positive about it. I really do not think that the council can ignore the amount of support that we have been given."

Coun Galloway said the council was being forced to make cuts in areas of non-essential funding because the Government will not release the city's full grant entitlement.

He said: "We have to look at those areas where we are not legally required to provide funding. At the present time the city council has the second-highest expenditure on the arts of any council in Yorkshire.

"Unless we can persuade the Government to release our full grant, there will be an effect on some areas of our discretionary expenditure.

"I hope that we will be able to get more income to the council, and that will provide an opportunity to look again at some of the proposed reductions."

Updated: 09:23 Thursday, January 12, 2006