A century-old Lewisham amateur theatre group are worried about covering their costs after they were told disabled people can’t view their latest performance.

The Utopians were set to perform Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Broadway Theatre in Catford, with the younger members of the Utopettes playing the dwarves.

However they found out that the lift wheelchair users would use to reach the lower ground floor can no longer be used by people attending the theatre.

Dee Hanford, chairwoman of the Utopians, said: “We have already sold tickets to people. We have grandparents and great-grandparents coming.

“Anybody who uses a wheelchair can’t get into the theatre. Some of the children’s grandparents and family can’t come. We have got to hand money back to people.

“It’s going to be a disappointment to the children. That lift has always been of use for the children at the theatre.

“We are paying over £2,000 to hold the show there. We are hoping they will give us a reduction as we have lost a lot of sales.”

Lewisham council said they informed Utopians of the wheelchair restrictions in October 2016 when they booked, but Utopians claimed they only found out three weeks prior to the perforamnce beginning. 

Diane Ash, President of Utopians, said: “We were told we had to refund ticket money to disabled people that we have sold to.

“Utopians have performed at the Broadway since 1906 and have never had this problem before.”

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said: “An accessibility audit of the Broadway Theatre found that there is no safe means of escape for wheelchair users from the Studio Theatre located on the lower ground floor.

“As a result we have had to restrict wheelchair access to this space while work is undertaken to rectify this and have suspended ticket sales to wheelchair users.

“The Utopians were advised of this at the time they made their booking to hire the space.

”We recognise that this will cause disappointment to some, however we are taking this course of action to ensure the wellbeing of visitors with mobility issues.

“We hope to have the access issues resolved as quickly as possible.”