DIANA Vickers won over a full house with an “amazing” debut performance of Little Voice, her proud mum said.

Ann Vickers made the journey to the Vaudeville Theatre in London with a 12-strong party of friends and family to watch 18-year-old Diana take the lead role in Jim Cartright’s tale.

Little Voice is about a shy girl who lives in the north of England with her mother and who has a talent for impersonating some of the greatest divas, including Judy Garland, Edith Piaf and Dame Shirley Bassey.

The former Westholme student from Huncoat was picked by producers for her chemistry with co-stars Lesley Sharp and Marc Warren, who are known for Clocking Off and Hustle respectively.

Mum Ann said: “It was brilliant. I was nervous before, but we managed to see her for a few minutes before she went on stage in her dressing room which was really nice.

“She was nervous too as you’d imagine, but she really got into it when it started.

“It’s so funny in parts.

“It’s a great story line and she managed to take off the other singers like Shirley Bassey really well. She was blooming amazing.

“Her co-stars are so nice and after the show we went back stage with everyone for champagne, and the writer Jim Cartright was there too.

“It’s a small theatre, but a nice theatre and there were quite a lot of people from Blackburn who’d made the trip.

“A lot of them don’t know Diana but they’d gone down because she’s a local girl.

“I think about 150 of her friends from Westholme are going down in November, so that will be really nice.”

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice premiered in 1992 at the Royal National Theatre and was made famous by Rossendale actress Jane Horrocks in the 1998 film version.

The run at the Vaudeville lasts until January 30. For tickets call 0844 579 1975.