The long-term future of Battersea Arts Centre has been secured with a new Wandsworth council deal.

The authority, which owns the freehold of the Grade II-listed building, has granted the venue a 125-year lease. It will be rent-free for the first 10 years in return for BAC carrying out repairs.

Last year, the Tory council threatened to withdraw funding and charge commercial rent. It faced an outcry from the arts world, which sees BAC as a hothouse for new work.

Wandsworth council leader Edward

Lister said: "The new arrangement gives the centre a freedom it has never had before." Meanwhile, Britain's leading theatre for the disabled is to get its first specially-designed home. Graeae has been awarded a £1.78 million grant by the Arts Council to create a state-of-the art rehearsal space and offices. The new home, in former tram sheds in Kingsland Road, Hackney, will use innovative methods to help disabled people.

These will include scents to help in route-finding, such as coffee for the kitchen area and scented trees for the main creative area. A fundraising campaign is being launched to raise the final £400,000 needed.

• 

  Lenny Henry: 'Maybe one day we can have a black Doctor Who'

  Shortlisted at today's Evening Standard theatre awards for his role as Othello, Lenny Henry has come a long way from black and white minstrels

  ---

• 

  Spread of the Jedhead

  Jedward, voted off the X-Factor this weekend, are the most obvious proponents of the sticky-uppy look - but the style crosses boundaries of age, gender, sexuality and taste, says Nick Curtis

  ---

Sky in plot to hire students on the cheap

Sky News is currently recruiting students as reporters for its coverage of next year's general election. However, the opportunity doesn't quite seem so appealing

All stories