The nifty 250

THE Liverpool Empire and the Southport Theatre are up for sale as part of its owner's plan to offload 17 UK venues.

Following a successful $90m sale of US theatres to Key Brand Entertainment, Live Nation has put the Merseyside theatres on the market for a reported £75m. Although the sale is “by no means certain”, Key Brand Entertainment have expressed an interest but the theatre’s current owners have stated they would “be very happy” if they did not sell.

A SGT Pepper Beatles poster has sold for $50,000 (£31,720) at pop memorabilia auction in New York. Bearing the four signatures of the Beatles, it was sold along side a set of hand-written Bob Dylan lyrics and a bass guitar owned by Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, in total the auction fetching more than $650,000 (£392,000), Christie’s said.

THE Liverpool Cancer Research Centre will open today, bringing together Merseyside’s top experts in the disease for the first time. The “hub of excellence” first step will be to work together to lower the region’s death rates and improve standards, the move into LCRC being described as “effective and pooling knowledge and resources to better tailor cancer treatment”.

A MURDER investigation has been launched after the battered body of a man was discovered at a house in Dursley, Whiston. Craig McGowan, 35, was found unconscious on Tuesday by his mother and was taken to hospital where doctors battled to save him, but pronounced him dead yesterday. A 31-year-old man and 31-year-old woman have been arrested in connection with Mr McGowan’s murder.