The 101-year-old venue faces a six-year wait for refurbishment work to begin despite warnings safety concerns could force its closure within two years.

Now Tollcross residents and traders are gearing up to fight for the theatre. A website and online petition have been set up to harness support and put pressure on the city council for a rethink.

Community activist Annie Bell said: "We have only just started the campaign, but I wanted to do something to help save the King's. I would hate to see it go.

"Lots of children come to see the panto there and for many of them it's the first experience they have of the theatre. People feel a great affection for it."

John Saunderson, chairman of the Tollcross Traders, said:
"It is a focal point in Tollcross and it would have a drastic effect if it disappeared. The pubs and restaurants get a lot of business out of it."

Former students' leader Rami Okasha, who is behind the website, said the full refurbishment of the theatre had been estimated at £20 million, but there were immediate safety issues which could be dealt with for less.

He said: "The idea is it can bring together people across the city who care about the King's."

The online petition says simply: "We call on the council to change its mind, and bring forward the repairs so that we can save the King's Theatre for future generations."

Mr Okasha said the campaign against school closures in Edinburgh earlier this year had used the internet as a new campaigning tool, posting information on which councillors had been approached and what they said.

He said: "What we saw with the schools closures campaign was people were brought together by a website where they could let people know how they were campaigning and the feedback they were getting."

He hopes a similar use can be made of the savethekings website. And people on Facebook can also click on a link to register their support and display a message on their homepage.

He said: "This affects people right across Edinburgh, but also people who come to the city for the Festival. World-class international performers appear at the King's, so I would expect this to attract global interest as well."

The council has said the "earliest opportunity" to find money for the theatre would be 2010-11.

But John Stalker, chief executive of the Festival City Theatres Trust which runs the King's on behalf of the council, has warned if there is no significant work on the building in the next couple of years it will have to close.

www.savethekings.org.uk