SALISBURY Playhouse says it is "certainly not considering a merger" with the City Hall, just two days after the plans were revealed at a Wiltshire Council meeting.

As reported in the Journal today, council bosses want the two venues to share back office staff, marketing, and ticket sales in a bid to save £200,000.

But now the Playhouse chairman Tim Crarer has poured cold water on the idea.

In a statement, he said: "We are certainly not considering merging the two organisations. The trustees would never approve anything which would compromise Salisbury Playhouse's current standing as a flourishing arts and community organisation."

The Playhouse said a report into "closer collaboration" between the two venues, which "considered the pros and cons of a full range of options" was on the table.

And, on Tuesday, Playhouse executive director Sebastian Warrack told the Journal: "There have been discussions about the two organisations working together but no decisions have been made yet."

It comes just 48 hours after Wiltshire Council deputy leader John Thompson told a full meeting of Wiltshire Council about plans to merge the two organisations.

He told councillors he wanted to bring in "outside providers" to run the “dramatically underutilised” City Hall on a “much more commercial basis”, to make "dramatic savings in the running cost and actually improve the arts offer".

And he said the council wanted to create a joint "arts entrance" on Fisherton Street.

He described the City Hall — which loses £120,000 a year — as a “drain on the revenue of this council”.