A VEGETABLE has ensured the shows will go on at one of the town's theatre venues.

The Arts Centre, in Devizes Road, had to take drastic action to plug a leak in a pipe last week.

And, being creative souls, a member of their staff came up with a very imaginative solution to a mundane problem.

Technical manager Matt Davis arrived at work to find the café area flooded last Tuesday.

After a moment's consideration he reached for the unusual plumbing tool of a courgette to stop the water.

"I turned up to work and noticed the place was flooded, water was coming out of the pipe heavily," Matt said.

"I panicked and turned the electric off.

"In a blind panic I also stuck a vegetable into the pipe to stop the water.

"I've heard of a plumber doing it with a potato, so it's not that uncommon."

Unfortunately, the courgette was not enough to rescue the Arts Centre from the floods, and firefighters had to be called to take over from the vegetable.

Mr Davis managed to locate and turn off the mains water to curb the flooding.

He said the hole in the pipe was the size of a 50p piece.

He said: "The fire brigade did a fantastic job.

"They knew exactly what to do and it was all cleared up quickly."

The café had to be closed for the day while the electrics were checked.

It was the first time Matt, who has been working there for two months, had encountered a plumbing problem in the Arts Centre.

General manager Clary Bean said using the courgette to stop the leak was a novel approach.

"Staff walked into the centre in the morning and heard the sound of running water and discovered six inches of water on the floor, " he said "Matt decided to be creative and grabbed the nearest vegetable to hand. That is what you call creative thinking."

The Arts Centre did not have a show on the day of the leak and its main show of the week, Hello Dolly, was unaffected by the flooding.