Four children from Redhill and Horley were among 24 youngsters who won through hotly-contended auditions to tread the boards in a big panto production this Christmas.

For Kayla-May Turner, nine, Grace Melville, 13, and Sophie Marsh-Baldry, 11, all from Horley, and Xanthe Valentine, eight, from Redhill, were among nearly 200 children aged from eight to 15 who took part in the auditions at Crawley's Hawth Theatre.

They were all vying for places as juvenile dancers in its forthcoming pantomime, Cinderella.

The production will star Stephen Mulhern from TV's Catchphrase, Britain’s Got More Talent and This Morning, and TV's CBeebies' Sid Sloane.

Paul Hendy and Emily Wood of show producers Evolution, and members of their team, had the difficult task of choosing the 24 youngsters to appear in three teams of dancers during the run of the pantomime.

Mr Hendy said: “This will be Evolution’s first pantomime at The Hawth and we want it to be one of the most spectacular there’s ever been at the theatre.”

He said: “The juvenile dancers alongside the members of the cast play an important part in that.” Referring to the auditions, he said: “The standard of dancing was incredible and we had an almost impossible task choosing between some very talented boys and girls. “It’s a great opportunity for those that got through the auditions and we’ve encouraged all the other applicants to keep at their dancing and develop their talents even further.”

Cinderella will run at The Hawth from Friday, December 13, through to Sunday, January 5.

Website: www.hawth.co.uk