RED faced officials have apologised to theatre-goers in Lowestoft this week after an administrative error saw a car park remain closed on a sell-out night at the Marina Theatre.

RED faced officials have apologised to theatre-goers in Lowestoft this week after an administrative error saw a car park remain closed on a sell-out night at the Marina Theatre.

Patrons descended on the 700-seater theatre from across the region on Monday night to see a performance from writer and broadcaster Pam Ayers, but many were left disgruntled when they arrived to find that the nearby 541-space Battery Green Road multi-storey car park was closed.

Upset by this, a number of readers contacted The Journal to convey their disappointment that they could not park in the theatre's closest car park.

'We were really upset that we couldn't get into the car park,' said one.

'I can't believe that it was closed on such a big night when the theatre was full,' said another.

The Journal understands that there is an agreement between the Marina Theatre and Waveney Norse, who operates the car park, that it will open the site if a minimum of two weeks notice is given and specific criteria regarding ticket sales are met.

Unfortunately on this occasion, the car park remained closed and apologies have been made to the theatre and patrons.

Andrew Wilson-Sutter, general manager of Waveney Norse, said: 'Unfortunately due to an administrative error, Battery Green car park did not remain open on Monday as planned. We would like to offer our sincere apologies if this error caused any inconvenience to those who were affected.

'Until now this system has been working well, however following this error, we have reviewed and strengthened our procedures to ensure we do not encounter similar problems in future.'