A POPULAR pantomime has been cancelled after rising damp was discovered at its venue.

Consett Citizens' Choir has pulled out of its January production of Mother Goose at the town's Empire Theatre, because repairs to the building have overrun and it will not re-open until early March.

Contractors working for Derwentside District Council discovered damp in the walls while carrying out a £700,000 overhaul of the theatre.

The delay is a blow for the 60-strong choir, which has performed a panto every January since 1960 and has been rehearsing Mother Goose since September.

Choir secretary Olive Smiles said: "March is just too late to be putting on a pantomime. We are very disappointed - this is the event that we all look forward to each year - but there is no other venue suitable."

It will mean a big financial loss for the group and disappointment for hundreds of Consett youngsters.

The production regularly draws in big crowds and is the most profitable event in the choir's calendar.

"It is just one of those things," said Mrs Smiles. "No one is to blame, and if we have a lovely theatre at the end of the work, then it will be worth it."

Derwentside District Council theatre and arts general manager Nick Wiggins said: "It has been a bit of a nightmare. We had hoped to be opening in early February. When the contractors had a more detailed look at the work to solve the rising damp, they came back and said it would be March.

"We are as disappointed as the choir about this, but have already booked them back for January 2004."

He admitted the delay was costing the theatre, but said the council would continue to support the venue.

An opening gala is pencilled in for early March, with a performance by Consett-born singer Susan Maughan.

The Big Band Crazy Show with John Miller, cousin of famous bandleader Glenn Miller, has been rescheduled from January 22 to April 4.

Other acts for the spring include Bobby Davro and the Moscow Ballet.