The new opera will compete with the Royal Opera House (pictured)

Theatre impresario Raymond Gubbay's new venture would be fresh competition for the Royal Opera House (ROH) and the English National Opera (ENO).

The opera house waslikely to be based at the Savoy Theatre in the West End, the Independent newspaper said.

The reported news comes a few years after fears the ENO and ROH would have to merge due to an opera-going decline.

Mr Gubbay's new company is expected to make its debut next April, with low ticket prices, said the paper.

The most expensive tickets are expected to be around �50, compared to top weekday prices of �58 for the ENO, and up to �170 for tickets at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

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The concert promoter, who has specialised in classical concerts, has made a reputation as a "populist" who has attracted thousands of new fans to opera.

His previous concerts have included Valentine's Day operas and a 1998 staging of Puccini's Madame Butterfly, which sold 80,000 tickets.

The new opera house would be aimed at the more conservative but mainstream opera audience, the paper added, and would keep ticket prices low by avoiding big-name singers.

Mr Gubbay is said to have appointed Stephen Pimlott to run the creative side, and former Glyndebourne Touring Opera administrator Sarah Playfair to run the company.