A RESCUE operation is in full swing to save Eastleigh's Beatrice Royal Gallery.

Talks are going on with the Arts Council of England to clinch funding for the troubled art gallery, pictured right, which was forced to close its doors more than a year ago.

And the Daily Echo can reveal that a rescue package could see the gallery - the south's biggest independent gallery - emerging as a community arts centre for Eastleigh.

Gallery consultant John Hoole is spearheading the investigation into a feasible business plan to reopen the gallery in Nightingale Avenue.

He said: "Ongoing discussions are taking place with the Arts Council, and discussions with interested bodies are taking place but it is still too early for a final decision.

"The gallery was put in the Arts Council's recovery programme and I'm hopeful for it to reopen."

The suggestion being put to the Arts Council is that the gallery could run as a community arts centre as well as a commercial gallery, which will be managed by new organisation the Beatrice Arts Trust Ltd.

Mr Hoole added: "We are planning to achieve more contact with the community than before and for the gallery to reconfigure itself to offer more for the people of Eastleigh."

The Beatrice Royal Gallery first opened in May 1994 after B&Q founder David Quayle's ambitions for a super-gallery took shape within a converted church.

Under his leadership the gallery became the biggest in the south and doubled in size to 10,000 sq ft following a £1m lottery grant through the Arts Council in 1999.

Mr Quayle stood down after the extension was completed, but last April he spearheaded a rescue operation to find a successful business plan for the gallery, which the Arts Council could back.

The man who played such a major role in creating the gallery will not be involved in its future, but he is hoping that Mr Hoole and the new trust will get the backing of the Arts Council.

He said: "I've stepped back from it because I think they need a new start. I hope it does reopen. There is certainly a desire for it."

Mr Quayle added it was up to the Arts Council to decide on the new running of the gallery before it could reopen.

"The new trust is talking about February for a reaction from the Arts Council to see if or when it reopens and what direction it will take."

Sandra Gidley, Romsey MP, visited the building following updates on negotiations.

"It would be a great loss if something like this, which took a lot of energy to start, was allowed to fade away," she said.