NORTH-EAST actors Jill Halfpenny and Craig Conway have announced they are to marry early next year, straight after starring together in panto at Newcastle's Theatre Royal.

The couple got engaged on Christmas Eve 2005 when they first starred together in Cinderella at the same venue and 30-year-old Jill announced they were planning a Tyneside wedding at the Theatre Royal launch of Jack & The Beanstalk today.

"Yes, I think were very romantic, but we're keeping the actual location a secret for now," said Jill.

Craig joked: "The church, the venue and everything is all ready, we just have to turn up. We kind of knew we had to have the wedding planned early because both of us are working over the summer."

Jill, who is about to film the second series of BBC1 school drama Waterloo Road, will play a new panto character called Mother Nature with an X-Men-style costume similar to Halle Berry's Storm.

Craig, who will be seen as a villain in Robson Green's ITV series Wire In The Blood and star in a TV adaptation of Terry Pratchitt's Hogfather book, will play the giant's henchman Snot Gobbler.

Jill and Craig are based in London but regularly travel to the region to take up invitations to take part in North-East TV and theatre projects.

So far the Theatre Royal has sold 37,000 tickets for Jack & The Beanstalk, which runs from Dec 11 to Jan 20. Tickets: 6-22. Box Office: 0870 905 5060.