Hundreds of seats in the newly-refurbished Brighton Dome will remain stuck under the floor until next week after machinery broke down.

A classical music concert was cancelled on Wednesday and some Bryan Ferry fans were disappointed last night to have to stand during his show.

A lift to move the seats below the floor broke down earlier this week.

The mechanism had been installed as an integral part of the £22m refurbishment of the venue, which reopened last year.

Organisers promised the problem would not affect shows by Dionne Warwick and Lee "Scratch" Perry this weekend and the machinery should be fixed by next week.

A spokeswoman said: "There is a mechanism problem with the lift from the orchestra pit. This means about 200 seats have been stuck underneath the floor of the stalls.

"We had to make last night's concert a combination of standing and seating to cope with the situation. Everyone with tickets was admitted but some had to stand rather than sit.

"We telephoned everyone and offered them a complimentary drink as well. Clearly some people were disappointed if they wanted to sit but, on the whole, most were very understanding.

"The problem will not be repaired until next week. For the Dionne Warwick concert tonight we will install temporary seating.

"Part of the refurbishment was to enable us to have more flexible seating arrangements and move the seating underneath the pit.

"For the Turin Brakes concert we had people standing and the problem occurred after that."

Engineers worked through the night on Tuesday to try to fix the fault ahead of the London Philharmonic Orchestra's scheduled appearance on Wednesday. However, this was cancelled.

The problem is the latest setback to befall the Dome since its reopening last spring.

In April, 2,500 revellers crammed into the building for a concert by DJs Fatboy Slim and Timo Maas. There were major criticisms from party-goers who could not buy drinks, clashed with security staff and faced queues of more than an hour to re-enter after going to the toilet.

In September, we revealed Brighton and Hove City Council allocated £750,000 of taxpayers' money to pay contractors after the Dome and Museum restoration project went over budget.

Tickets have gone on sale today for this year's Brighton Festival.

The annual arts showcase runs from May 3 to May 25 at venues across Brighton and Hove.

Highlights at the Brighton Dome include separate shows by Sixties icons Lou Reed and Jane Birkin, author Keith Waterhouse and the Ballet Theatre Munich.

Tickets are available from the Dome box office in Church Street, Brighton, or by calling 01273 709709.