IT was a fairytale start to fundraising for one Teesdale village hall as children put on their first pantomime for the cause.

Middleton-in-Teesdale youngsters raised £430 on Saturday, December 13, after performing Cinderella in the village hall.

Dozens of friends and family gathered for the one-off performance which saw about 20 children aged between five and 13 taking part after months of rehearsals.

The cash will now be put towards the village hall fund as residents strive to raise funds to build a brand new village hall after finding that their old one contained asbestos.

Village Hall Committee member, Sam Pickering, said the pantomime had been a huge success.

“We have seen other villages do pantos so we just thought we would try it and see what happened,” she said.

“The children were really good and have put lots of effort into their singing and they all got their own costumes ready so the mothers have been a big support too.”

She added: “This one has been a great success so we are hoping to do it again next year.

“We raised £430 which will be put into the Village Hall fund towards hopeful a brand new village hall.

“A small start I know but hopefully it will be the start of something big.”