DISAPPOINTED theatregoers are being offered a refund after the world's most famous car literally failed to get off the ground.

Almost 900 people were at the Sunderland Empire to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Friday, but technical problems stopped the magic.

The West End hit musical is the most spectacular show in the theatre's history and has proved a smash box office success.

The show ends on Saturday and, during its 11-week run, it has attracted audiences of 100,000 from as far afield as Norway, with ticket sales reaching £3.5m.

But disaster struck during Friday's show when mechanical equipment failed during the last scene of the first act.

One woman from Darlington, who paid £90 for tickets, a programme and transport for her husband and her to see the show, said: "Anyone with a programme would know they missed the last scene from the first act and the first scene from the second act."

The woman, who asked not to be named, said the problems resulted in about half-an-hour being cut from the show.

Joanne Wilkins, of Sunderland Empire, said people who attended Friday's show could have a refund or see the show again for free.

She said: "We do the maintenance on Friday and everything was fine. It is working again now and we still do not know what caused the problem."

She added: "We are contacting everyone who was here on Friday and offering them the chance to see it again."

The box office number is 0870 602 1130.