Three weeks ago, the crucial report was passed to the council and Tory leader Councillor Tony Arbour is now demanding that its findings be made public.

District Auditor Brian Willmor was called in to investigate the financial package agreed by the council to save the ailing theatre in 1986.

Four years later the council agreed to act as guarantor on a £4 million loan to restore the theatre - a move described by the theatre director as 'the best deal she had ever struck'.. The loan is costing Richmond council taxpayers £1,000 a day in interest.

By the time the loan expires in 2013 it is expected the bill will have risen to £10 million.

A spokesman for the Audit Commission confirmed that the council had received a copy of Brian Willmor's report.

The news has outraged Mr Arbour, who has accused the council of keeping the report under wraps.

He said: "Borough residents are entitled to know the facts about how their money has been spent on the theatre.

"The council received the district auditor's report on April 7 but it has not told members what it said.

"I am left with the suspicion that the delays are due to the fact that the contents may be politically sensitive."

A Richmond Council spokesman confirmed that the report was received earlier this month and that the findings would be made public in due course.

Council leader David Williams called in the district auditor in an attempt to lay to rest rumours and allegations that have surrounded the council's involvement in the theatre, owned by the chairman of the Old Vic, Sally Greene.

The audit comes just weeks before the Ambassador Theatre Group finalises a deal to take over the theatre's management.