TERRIFIED children had a lucky escape when a theatre ceiling collapsed above the stage where they were about to perform.

Plasterboard fell into the lighting rigging over the stage at the Thwaites Empire Theatre, in Blackburn, while almost 90 children, aged three to 16, from Bolton and Bury-based Theatre Works were rehearsing their production of 'A Night At The Musicals'.

Fortunately, nobody was on stage at the time, but parents said the children who witnessed the incident were left "traumatised".

Eight children, aged four to seven, were just moments from going on stage to rehearse a dance piece from Mamma Mia, while the others sat watching in the auditorium.

Emma Matthews, who runs Theatre Works with Lauren Bateman, said: "We grabbed the eight children next to us as the ceiling began to fall in and covered them with our bodies and then started to throw them out into the auditorium to a nearby adult, who escorted them quickly out of the building.

"There was lots of dust and debris falling onto the stage and visibility was impaired due to the black cloud of dust.

"Children in the audience, obviously very scared, saw the ceiling drop and a large dust cloud come towards them, so they ran in the opposite direction to the nearest exits. At the time everyone was terrified and didn't know what was happening."

The group are now hoping to find a venue that will let them perform the show for free, after putting in months of hard work.

The 35-year-old, from Little Lever, added: "We have lots of very upset children who worked so hard on this show and we have nowhere to do it. Better broken hearts than broken bones, but for us it's not good enough.

"With The Albert Halls closed at the moment we have no provision in Bolton for a theatre. Companies and schools are going out of the area, which is such a shame. We have so much performing arts in Bolton with no where to perform, it's ridiculous.

"We used to do our shows at The Met in Bury, which we have now outgrown. This show originally should have been at the Radcliffe Civic Suite which, after we booked it, we found out is now closing down. There must be somebody out there who can help us and give us a theatre to perform our Night at The Musicals show in. We had sold out the entire venue for our show and have all been left severely out of pocket."

Darren Armstrong, whose six-year-old daughter Klarisse was among those inside the theatre, added: "It was very scary and it could have gone horribly wrong. She was absolutely traumatised. It has clearly had an effect on her. She was completely covered in dust."

Michael Berry, chairman of the Thwaites Empire Theatre, said: “Fortunately no-one was on stage when the plasterboard came down. We are not sure why part of the ceiling fell in but we are bringing in a structural engineer to carry out a full survey to ensure that there will be no further problems. We are working closely with the Health and Safety Executive which has been notified as the safety of our audiences is paramount. For the full inspection to be carried out and to allow us to repair the ceiling we have no choice but to cancel all shows at the theatre for a couple of weeks.

"The Theatre Works are a lovely group and it was the first time they were using our theatre. Thankfully, there was nobody injured at all."

Theatre Works are raising money to perform in London's West End in early 2017 and will be performing an excerpt from Sunshine on Leith at the Blackpool Opera House on April 30.