Flood victims set to benefit from panto tickets

An arts venue will use this year's pantomime to raise money to help those affected by severe flooding in a town at the weekend.

The Regal Tenbury in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, is pricing tickets for the opening night of CinderElla in December as "pay what you can", with profits going to businesses and homeowners affected by the flooding.

Katy Rogers, chair of trustees for the Regal, said the scheme was helping the community in other ways as well.

"As well as fundraising, you’re also giving people an opportunity to go to something that they perhaps couldn’t have afforded to do before," she said.

People are being invited to pay any amount between £10 and £100, depending on what they can afford, with a theatre spokesperson saying tickets usually were priced at £20.

Ms Rogers said the money would go to a local steering group which would make sure the money went where it was most needed.

Tenbury was particularly badly hit by Storm Bert at the weekend after the Kyre Brook rose and caused a wall to collapse.

Homes and businesses were flooded as water surged through the streets and caused drains to overflow.

Tenbury Wells flooded when a wall next to a brook collapsed

The Regal itself was less affected by the floods than some other buildings in the town and reopened on Monday, offering toilets and hot drinks to anyone who was in need.

Ms Rogers said people in the town were pulling together to recover.

"There’s devastation but there’s also resilience – people really trying to help and support each other," she said.

"Somebody described it as almost like a ‘Blitz spirit’, so people coming together, I think, is the hope that you can take out of [it]."

CinderElla runs from 11-31 December and the theatre's spokesperson said tickets, including for the opening night, could be bought online or by calling their box office.