Pirate Billy Steel has taken a break from counting his treasure to add up the number of people who have written to Westcliff's Palace Theatre offering their support.

The venue, which is due to close for refurbishment in March, sparking staff redundancies, has received more than 2,000 signatures in the form of letters and cards since the temporary closure was announced.

Billy is a member of the cast of Peter Pan and is busy rehearsing for the Palace's panto which starts on Friday, December 4.

Palace spokesman Bev Clarke said advance bookings for the show had broken box office records.

She said: "Tickets are selling fast so people should hurry is they don't want to miss out on what may be the Palace's final Christmas repertory production."

Bev added: "All the staff at the Palace have been overwhelmed by the public support they have received since the news of the Palace's closure was announced."

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