THEATREGOERS will soon be able to watch productions in comfort at the Bolton Octagon -- thanks to a lottery windfall.

The theatre has received £25,000 from the North West Arts Board to fund new seating in the main auditorium.

Octagon bosses hope up to 400 new seats will be installed by September in time for the first visit of the National Theatre.

Executive director John Blackmore said: "The award is for a specific purpose. We are replacing the main auditorium seating.

"The seats have needed replacing for a couple of years -- there's actually been a fault in part of the seating.

"It will be much better, a lot more comfortable."

The seating will cost about £45,000 with the rest of the money coming from reserves the theatre has accumulated from its successes over the past three years.

To ensure the best seats were purchased, Octagon staff put various designs to the test.

Mr Blackmore said: "We had two different sorts of seats put in the auditorium and then asked customers which ones they thought were the best." Theatre performances will not be interrupted by the new seating as work will be done while the theatre is shut for maintenance work.

The North West Arts Board helps support arts projects through funding from the Regional Arts Lottery Programme.

Charlie Rowley, North West Arts Board Lottery Officer said: "It is good to see awards being made widely across the region and the diversity of arts projects is fantastic."

Any group interested in applying for Regional Arts Lottery Programme should call Rachel Williams on 0161 827 9233.