YOUNG performing arts students from Swindon dazzled their family and friends with a show in London's West End.

Classes at the Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime chance to sing and dance and act in the capital's famous theatre district by working on a show they came up with all on their own.

PQA Swindon’s morning and afternoon academy had the freedom to be as imaginative and creative with their part of the show as they liked, from the casting and staging right through to the choreography.

Principal Dee Thompson said: "I am so proud of both academies. They all worked so hard and this resulted in two amazing shows. PQA Swindon is now full of West End stars!

"They got to experience the thrill and buzz of performing on a West End stage in the heart of London’s theatreland.

"These were two evenings we will always remember, and with many more performances of scheduled for this year, PQA students are set to continue to take the West End by storm."

Their musical comedy Trouble's A-Brewin' is set in a fictional Mid-West American town in the 1870s, where Sheriff Trifle is on the hunt for a group of bandits who threaten to disturb the peace ahead of the town’s eleventh birthday.

The sudden disappearance of $50,000 means that it’s up to Sheriff Trifle to catch the thieves and save the day.

The Saturday morning academy performed on September 26 and the afternoon class got their moment in the spotlight on October 3.

PQA is a weekend performing arts academy which provides tuition for children and young people from four to 18-years-old.

Students spend three hours with teachers rotating through hour-long sessions in comedy and drama, musical theatre, and film and TV.

The youngsters are split into groups according to their age and are taught by specialist teachers.

The academies were started by actress Pauline Quirke and her producer husband Steve Sheen in 2007 in Beaconsfield and others have popped up around the country since then, including in Swindon.