Hand back £150,000 town grant for failed 'fun factory', MP tells Conservative donor

The Conservative donor Lubov Chernukhin is facing calls to hand back £150,000 of taxpayer cash given to her company to help fund a "fun factory" in Hastings that closed after less than a year.

- Rowena Mason

Helena Dollimore, the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, said Chernukhin, who recently donated £70,000 to the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, should refund the money now that the project has gone into administration.

Chernukhin, a businesswoman who has given more than £2m to the Conservatives since 2014 and is married to a former Russian finance minister, co-founded the Owens entertainment centre in the East Sussex seaside town in October 2022.

The centre received £150,000 from Boris Johnson's town deal funds after a tender process. Chernukhin claimed it would help rejuvenate the town by bringing more than 45 jobs and lots of visitors. The venture would include restaurants, a bowling alley, immersive experiences, virtual reality rides, an oddity museum and amusement arcade.