Young performers got a surprise when they staged a late pantomime.

Celebrity visit - TV star Michelle Collins dropped in to see a play by the Performers Art College, Corringham. Picture: DAVE HENDERSON

Cast members of the Performers Art College, in Corringham, were at the Thameside Theatre, in Grays, putting on their show A Christmas For Carol.

Television favourite Michelle Collins, best known for her former role as Cindy in EastEnders, popped in with her nine-year-old niece Charlotte Graham - who appears in the show - and signed autographs for the audience.

Set in the 1940s, the show, written and produced by Carol Porter, was packed with old-fashioned slapstick comedy.

Published Tuesday, March 12, 2002