EQUITY has condemned cuts to funding for the arts in Bristol, with two theatre companies having closed and hundreds of jobs at risk.

The performers’ union said the latest round of cuts by Bristol City Council mean that arts funding in the city will have been axed by 40 per cent in the last five years.

Equity has also called on Mayor Marvin Rees to restore £75,000 of funding.

The union’s south-west regional official Simon Curtis said: “It is particularly cruel for the council to make this announcement just ahead of the Christmas season, while our members will be wondering where they are going to find work in the new year.

“Arts organisations preparing for the new financial year will not be willing to put on work and employ our members with this shock cut to their finances.”

The council and Mr Rees’s office were invited to comment.