HEALTH workers are to stage a panto in the New Year to help keep Yorkshire’s first mobile chemotherapy unit on the road.

The Blue Light Theatre Company, founded by members of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, hopes its show will raise £1,000 for York Against Cancer - enough to run the charity’s new unit for a day.

The cast of 18 NHS staff and supporters from other walks of life is now hard at work rehearsing the new production, ‘Bean-stalked!’, to be staged at Acomb WMC from January 24 to 26.

Its previous pantomimes have raised cash for both York Against Cancer and the Motor Neurone Disease Association, a charity supported by the ambulance workers in memory of a colleague, Sally Waudby, who died of the condition.

Panto writer Perri Ann Barley and husband Craig have visited the mobile chemotherapy unit to see where their cash will be used.

“It’s a fabulous asset,” said Perri, a dispatcher with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service. Paramedic Craig agreed, saying: "It’s really great to see it up and running and treating people closer to their homes."

‘Bean-stalked!’ will be a mixture of panto stories drawing in themes from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, ‘The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe’ and ‘Hook’.

Performers will give a sneak preview of the show at the switch-on of Acomb’s Christmas lights at 2.25pm and 3.30pm on the Minster FM stage in front of the town’s Gateway Centre today.

Panto supporters will also be inside the centre, near Santa’s Grotto, selling tickets and promoting the show.

“We hope loads of people will go along to see ‘Bean-stalked!’ “ said Francine Clee, Communications Officer for York Against Cancer. “They’ll not only be supporting a great community event, they’ll be helping to keep our charity’s own show on the road.”

*Adult tickets costing £10, under-14s costing £5)and concessions - on January 24 and 25, £7 - are available by phoning 07933 329654, by Paypal from the website www.bluelight-theatre.co.uk.