A TROUPE of toe-tapping teeny dancers have raised £800 for charity with a one-off show - despite having to move practice base midway through rehearsals.

The youngsters from the Alhambra Academy of Dance and Drama faced a dilemma when they were told they were no longer welcome to practice their tap routines at St James Methodist Church Hall, Rainhill.

Teacher Nisha Srivastava told the Star: "The church secretary wrote to me claiming that the floor was being ruined by the taps. At the time we were right in the middle of rehearsals for our Christmas show in aid of Save The Children and St Ann's Church, Rainhill. The girls were planning to perform Riverdance so we were faced with the choice of finding other accommodation or dropping the show all together."

Nisha finally found a new rehearsal HQ when the licensees of The Victoria public house in Rainhill agreed to allow them to use their upstairs function room, provided a special floor covering was put down.

Nisha continued: "The covering is very expensive - about £1,000 in all which I am paying for out of my own money - but I have worked very hard over the last five years to keep the troupe up and running and I couldn't just stop now."

And the success of the Christmas show has made her even more determined to carry on. "The girls get such a kick out of performing and all our guests love it as well. To see them able to practice tapping again on the new floor covering makes all the effort worthwhile."

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