Norwich's Castle Gardens Whiffler Theatre to be refurbished

The Whiffler Theatre in Norwich's Castle Gardens was smashed up by thugs who damaged its wooden seats and graffitied its walls, but now Norwich City Council officials have repaired the area ahead of planned works.

City cops have also announced they will be patrolling the area more often following the incident, which initially saw the theatre gated off by council workers, with Norwich currently seeing a spate of tagging crimes.

Rotting and damaged seats have been removed at the theatre in Castle Gardens (Image: Newsquest)

READ MORE: Police set their sights on city centre crime hotspots

Officials say they have now made the area safe ahead of planned refurbishment work, which will begin once the project to refurbish Norwich Castle's keep has finished.

A city council spokeswoman said: “The city council made the seating area safe, with work finishing on 21 July.

"A number of rotten benches and parts of the lower steel supports, which had also rotted, were removed.

The stage at Norwich's Whiffler Theatre (Image: Newsquest)

“The area can still be used for seating, ahead of planned improvement works to the Whiffler Theatre, which will start after the repairs to the castle keep have finished.”

The Whiffler Theatre was built by the Evening News and donated to the city in 1982, to mark the newspaper's 100th year.