THE general manager of Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre has described a rival venue's staff as "vultures" for attempting to 'cash in' on their plight in the wake of the Victoria's nightclub blaze.

Theatre executives learned on Monday that it will be shut for around two months as officials continue to deal with the aftermath of the Sauchiehall Street fire.

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While Pavilion chief Iain Gordon praised other venues like the Royal Concert Hall for offering support, he claimed the SEC had been trying to pinch shows from them and fears he could lose £500,000 in lost turnover.

He said he discovered that the SEC has been "approaching all the acts that were due to appear at ours over the next two months offering them favourable rates".

Glasgow Times:

He added: “That is blatantly trying to steal business from right under our feet – it’s like kicking someone when they’re down.

“We have enough to do without dodging the beaks of the vultures.”

However the SEC insists they were not trying to take advantage of The Pavilion’s predicament.

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A spokesperson said: “We have been responding to requests from our stakeholders and existing clients to see if we can offer help and support through difficult circumstances following the temporary closure of the Pavilion.

“We are not looking to commercially exploit what is a challenging situation for any venue.”

Celtic the Musical which was due to begin a month run on April 18 for a month has since been rescheduled for September.