Campaigners for the survival of the under-threat theatre believe they have found compelling evidence why it should become a protected building.

They hope to submit an application for listed status to English Heritage within the next few days. The application is the work of volunteers the Alternative Task Group which was set up in opposition to the officially sanctioned Task Group formed by Scarborough Council to discuss the theatre's future.

The group says that, because the Futurist is one of the UK's few surviving 1920s Supercinemas and was designed by celebrated theatrical architect Frank Tugwell, it has a good chance of becoming a listed building.