£150,000 levelling up grant awarded to Tory donor’s amusement centre in Hastings

Owens centre, co-founded by Lubov Chernukhin, raises questions about whether public money has gone to projects most in need of it

A 150,000 grant from Boris Johnson's flagship levelling up towns fund was awarded to an amusement centre launched by the Conservative donor Lubov Chernukhin, raising questions about whether public money has gone to projects most in need of financial help.

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 Hastings, East Sussex.