THE owner of a ballroom listed by English Heritage to protect it from developers has attacked the organisation.

Bill Mannix, 67, is selling the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley Road, Brockley, because of poor health and has already received two bids of £10m for the site from potential developers.

But the building, which opened as a ballroom in 1959, was given Grade II-listed status by English Heritage last week, meaning it cannot be demolished or altered without planning authority permission.

Mr Mannix said: "When we needed help in the past English Heritage was nowhere to be seen.

"I approached them about 10 years ago for financial help to keep the place going when we had to put in disabled toilets and meet new regulations."

"I'm very angry, actually. If they had helped, even if it was just a tenner, I wouldn't mind so much.

"There might be another bid, but this would just blight the whole thing."

Mr Mannix said he had not been informed of the listing but English Heritage denied this was the case, saying he had been sent written notification.

A spokeswoman said: "As far as financial assistance goes, before now the building would not have been listed so it would not have been eligible for funding."

The organisation said in its report: "The Rivoli Ballroom is a highly unusual building which is of special architectural interest for its flamboyant interior and special historic interest for its rarity as a surviving 1950s dance hall in a former cinema."

Since the ballroom was put up for sale, a group was set up on social networking website Facebook to campaign for it to be saved.

Among the group's 1,650 members is Lewisham councillor representing Ladywell ward, Sue Luxton.

She said: "It means a developer can't just buy the site, demolish it and build a lot of flats there."