THE cast of Bacup Amateur's next production will be looking swell and it is all thanks to nimble fingered dressmaker David Garside.

The lavish production of Hello Dolly with its flowing frilly frocks was set to cost the company a lot of money, until David offered to make the outfits himself.

Co-director Carol-Anne Connolly said: "David joined us about 18 months ago and is a full-time consultant for a costume company.

"He was directing our last production Friends and Neighbours when we were planning for Hello Dolly and he offered to price up costumes. "Then he offered to design them himself and got history books out to do research to make sure the costumes were correct. In the end, with the help of some of the other women, he has made them all!

Hello Dolly will run from October 21 to 26.

Leading lights are: Dolly, Joan Rawstron; Horace van der Gelder, John Garrett; Mrs Molloy, Gina Cole; Minnie Fay, Maureen Rhodes, Cornelieus, John Cornthwaite; Barnaby, Michael Kemp.

Set in the late 1800s in New York, the light-hearted musical tells the tale of Jewish matchmaker Dolly.

A lot of the cast are first-time dancers, but Carol-Anne said they were doing very well and girls who auditioned to take part in A Christmas Carol have also been recruited to march through the audience in the parade scene.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.