Bristol boy lands Chitty Chitty Bang Bang lead role

Bristol schoolboy Matthew Farmer will be touring Britain after landing a lead role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Matthew, 10, of Fishponds, will be playing Jeremy in the production, which was at the London Palladium for three years and is now being staged in theatres around the country.

He will appear before his first audience in Stoke on Trent on Tuesday November 17, and will finish touring on Saturday April 10, when the show will be in Southampton.

During his five-month tour, Matthew - a member of Bristol School of Performing Arts - will also appear in theatres in Oxford, Nottingham, Wimbledon and Milton Keynes, as well as in his home city of Bristol during January.

"He's already up in Glasgow rehearsing, and he's taking in all in his stride," said his mother Paula.

Matthew, a Year 6 pupil at Air Balloon Hill Junior School in St George, recently appeared in Casualty as Ronan, a boy suffering from leukaemia. He has also appeared on stage in Evita, Joseph and Abba Mania.