THE future of a West Devon arts centre is in question, following a financial crisis faced by its managers.

Duchy Square Centre for Creativity at Princetown, a flagship regeneration project to boost the arts in West Devon, opened almost two years ago.

But at the beginning of this year, it was announced it would have to close temporarily due to a cash flow problem facing the managers of the centre, Integria.

It has since been revealed that Integria has gone into liquidation, meaning anyone owed money by the company will have to apply to the liquidators, for their funds.

Tavistock artist Fiona Waddy, who sold one of her paintings at the Devon Artists' Network exhibition at Duchy Square Centre in December, has received no money from the sale of her work.

She said: 'Anyone who sold anything in December was going to be paid a month later. Now we have been informed the company has gone into administration.

'What I want to know is are the little people like me going to miss out? It's a comparatively small amount of money, but to artists like me, times are tight and that amount of money would make much more difference to me than it would to a big company or bank.'

Artist Helen Melland sold a painting called 'Circus Flight' on December 23 — for which she has received no payment.

Devon Artist' Network is applying to the liquidators on behalf of the artists for the money they are owed.

Devon County Council invested £500,000 in Duchy Square Centre. Funding was also received from the Government Office South West, the Regional Development Agency and the Duchy of Cornwall.

A spokesman for Devon County Council, which is the leaseholder of the property, said there was a formal process that had to be followed relating to the building, which it leased from the Duchy of Cornwall.

The council is in discussions with potential partners that could run the centre in future. 

The spokesman said: 'We are exploring options at the moment, and would expect the future of the building to become clearer over coming months.'

A spokeswoman for the Duchy of Cornwall said: 'The Duchy is supportive of the centre and obviously would want to see it continue operating.'

The spokeswoman said the Duchy could make no further comment on the situation.