ROBBIE the dog plays a lead role when it comes to the Bolton Amateur Theatre Societies (BATS).

In fact, when it comes to calculating how long the organisation has been a force to be reckoned with, owner Jean Morgan only has to look towards her pet.

Jean put together the first BATS dinner and now, as the next one approaches, held in conjunction with the Bolton Evening News's awards night, she recalls how the annual event got started.

She said: "The idea of BATS came to me at work one day when I thought it would be nice to organise a dinner for us all.

"I put some feelers out and the reaction came back: 'What a great idea'. At the first dinner, at Rivington Barn, we had 13 operatic societies and one dramatic society.

"The first event raised enough money to pay for a guide dog which we called Melody. That was 14 years ago this year. I know this because my dog, Robbie, was born on September 12 -- 14 years ago. The first dinner was in October when he was only five weeks old. I picked him up at eight weeks. My other dog had died just before the dinner.

"The link with Robbie has become a standing joke which began a few years ago. It started with someone saying: 'How many years have we been doing the dinners', and someone replying: 'You better ring Jean because they are the same age as her dog'.

"The dinners in those first years were held in Rivington Barn. I organised them and they were run by all the operatic societies. It was hard work at first -- on one occasion we had up to 500 people."

Jean stepped out of the BATS limelight for four years, but came back about five years ago as secretary, the position she still holds.

Her involvement in Bolton amateur dramatics dates back to when she was aged just 15 years and her first appearance was with the Blackburn Road Amateur Dramatic Group in 'No, No Nanette'.

The next BATS/Bolton Evening News awards dinner takes place on Friday, September 13, at The Last Drop Hotel, Bromley Cross.

Theatre groups are asked to submit photographs depicting any productions staged during the past year, for display at the event, to: Beverly Greenberg, Bolton Evening News, Newspaper House, Churchgate, Bolton, BL1 1DE.