CREATIVE people from across the county are being asked to step forward and help mount one of the region's most ambitious-ever arts projects.

The Crowns of Cradley is due to be performed this September. Fuelled by unstoppable community spirit and a desire to do something memorable, the show is about times gone by and, through drama, dance, music and images, will bring events like Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee and the First World War to life.

But before the £60,000 production can get into full swing and the 100-plus cast can start rehearsing, the organisers need to find a back-stage team capable of turning their ambitious plans into reality.

Malvern-based writer and broadcaster David Robertson is producing the show.

He said: "This is an enormous - and enormously exciting - venture, and to make it happen we need a small army of creative and energetic volunteers.

"They'll work in fields as diverse as catering and costumes, woodwork and web design, set-building and site services, music and marketing, painting and parking, as well as lighting, sound, choreography, graphics, insurance, security and many more."

Mr Robertson is looking for team leaders - a stage manager, technical manager and catering manager, but also people he calls "doers" - people with only have a few hours to spare but the willingness to contribute their existing skills or to learn new ones.

Mr Robertson and writer/director Peter Diamond are holding a production evening in Cradley Village Hall, at 7.30pm, on Wednesday, May 16. The show will be staged in the village from Monday, September 24, to Saturday, September 29.