THE leader of a York Brownie unit says she abandoned a traditional visit by her Brownies to the York Theatre Royal panto this year after the cost of tickets soared.

Rachael Ware, aka Brown Owl at 56 York Holgate Methodist Brownie Unit, said she normally took about 20 girls, aged between seven and 10, plus several leaders, to the pantomime each December.

She said they usually sat in the Gallery and they paid £21.50 per head for tickets in 2017, with parents paying £20 and the unit subsidising the rest but in 2018, the cost had risen to £25.50, with the Brownies again subsiding the cost so parents again paid £20.

However, she claimed that in 2019, they were quoted £30 per ticket, having been told this was the price for both the Upper Circle and Gallery. They decided it was too much to ask of parents and the Brownies could not afford an even bigger subsidy, and so organised a disco instead.

Her comments appear to lend support to claims by panto fans, including former dame Berwick Kaler, that the drop in ticket sales which has been used by the theatre to justify scrapping its traditional panto, with stars such as Suzy Cooper and Martin Barrass, has been caused partly by rocketing ticket prices.

A panto fan said on the York Pantomime (Berwick Kaler) Appreciation Society’s Facebook page that she had carried out a detailed analysis showing prices had risen up to 75 per cent in the past 12 years, but stressed the figures didn’t take into account the time, love and creativity poured into the theatre from people working there.

A theatre spokesman said: “We think the figures that show a steady decline in ticket sales over the past 11 years speak for themselves. We have nothing to add to previous statements.”