Windsor's Theatre Royal has abandoned all hopes of continuing the run of its pantomine Cinderella this season.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's press conference this afternoon has made it clear that Windsor and Maidenhead will remain in Tier 4, as more areas of Britain previously spared have also been added to the 'lockdown' list and secondary schools have had term delayed for two weeks.

Cinderella had its run interrupted the Saturday before Christmas when Windsor was first placed in Tier 4.

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Now all possible remaining performances of the 82nd Windsor panto have been formally cancelled.

A joint statement by theatre co-directors Jon and Anne-Marie Woodley has been released, saying: “We are deeply saddened that our much-loved annual pantomime that has run each year for over 82 years, is not able to complete any further scheduled performances. For many families this is a massive annual tradition and even more so at the end of what has already been such a terrible year for everyone.

“We are proud to have been one of the few theatres to have played nearly 30 performances of the pantomime (albeit to socially distanced audiences), enjoyed by over 7,000 people in early December.

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"Public safety must be paramount, however devastating it is to be entering the new year with the theatre’s doors closed once again.

“We very much hope that we can resume our 2021 programme as soon as we are able to and would like to thank our audiences, staff, and our fabulous pantomime company for all their support, patience and hard work during these trying times.”