A new theatre due to open in time for the Christmas pantomime season has applied for a licence to sell alcohol.

Work has already begun on the construction of the new temporary arena called Orchard West in Dartford.

The 1,000-seat venue is being built after The Orchard Theatre in Home Gardens was forced to shut for a year from September.

It closed after the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in its roof - something which will cost £7 million to put right.

The new auditorium is being built on a plot of disused land between Hythe Street and Orchard Street.

It will come complete with seating, heating and cooling systems, access provision and full backstage and front-of-house facilities, including indoor toilets and bars.

The seating arrangement also includes front-row, flat floor seats and a raised platform, plus facilities for guests with disability and accessibility requirements.

And operator of the venue, Trafalgar Theatres, has now submitted an application to Dartford council for a premises licence at the £1.5 million site - which is expected to open in the coming weeks.

If approved, the agreement will also allow the facility to offer entertainment activities which would include the selling of alcohol.

Drinks would be sold each day from 10am until 1.30am.

Dance performances, live music and plays are also part of the application and would be up and running from midday until 11pm seven days a week.

Dartford council and Trafalgar Theatres already confirmed the initial stages of erecting the stage structure had commenced last week, and will be followed by the construction of the auditorium later this week.

The theatre is due to be completed in time for the first production to take to the stage, which will be the town’s annual pantomime.

Beauty and the Beast starring EastEnders actress Shona McGarty opens on December 9 and runs until December 31.

Speaking last month, Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite said the theatre will give the town the "cultural heart it deserves".

He said: "The day that we were told we had to shut the Orchard Theatre was a pretty bad day, but first thing the following morning is when we started planning.

“I was absolutely determined the Orchard Theatre was not going to end on this point.

“I’m sure some councils might’ve taken a different decision, and some councils might not have had the finances to take a different decision, but what we’ve decided to do is to keep the Orchard open.

“We want to repair it and get it back servicing the people of Dartford again.

"It’s been a very long process but we started the very day we had to close the Orchard.”

He continued: "From the outside it won’t have all the attractive features of a full building, but once you’re through the main door and inside, the whole thing will be a full theatre experience.

“It's all the things you’d expect in a theatre, but it’s just wrapped up in a portable package.

“It gives Dartford the cultural heart we believe it deserves and keeps everything going."