Members of a local am-dram group can breathe a sigh of relief, following a frantic search for a venue culminating in their most successful panto yet.

The Ermington Players performed Treasure Island: Pratts of the Caribbean in front of record numbers at the Devonport Playhouse in Plymouth.

The players were forced to find a new venue after the closure of The Globe in Stonehouse Barracks just days before their show was due to start.

But everything turned out fine in the end, with more than 450 tickets sold across the three performances and audiences enjoying the hilarious storyline. This featured pirates sailing to a desert island, which they plundered for treasure - with a few hiccups along the way.

The show was sponsored by the Plymouth office of Reed Education, allowing the group to invest in additional sets, props and costumes.

Ermington Players actress and the producer of the panto Ann Roffe said: ’The group worked incredibly hard on this pantomime and we were so proud of each performance. So much time and effort goes into creating a show, from scriptwriting and rehearsals, through to the making of the many detailed costumes and sets.

’We lived and breathed the pantomime for months so to see such a fantastic response from the audience made this very worthwhile.

’We were especially pleased this year to be supported by Reed Education because, being an amateur theatre group, we have a very limited budget. This additional income allowed us to invest in some fantastic props and costumes, making this one of our best shows to date, we are so grateful to them for their support.’