The Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford upon Avon is planning to embark on a huge multi-million pound rebuilding programme.

The Arts Council has indicated that the theatre company is in line for a lottery grant of up to £50 million and plans are under way to design an exciting new venue to present the bard’s plays.

A theatre spokesman said:

"There are no plans yet but the first steps are being taken. We have appointed a Dutch architect Eric van Egeraat and he will hopefully become heavily involved in the next twelve months."

The company will have to present a detailed business plan and specify its vision for the theatre in its application for Arts Council money.

The spokesman said:

"We have only reached the application process for the grant money at this stage and we are told the money will be available from 2003 if our application is successful.

"It looks likely that we shall get up towards the £50 million total. It will be a long term process and we have to find our own matching funding. There are no plans drawn up as yet but we shall be starting a consultation process with our staff and with the West Midlands public to discover what they want so that we can prepare a design brief."