Talented young actors have been left without a rehearsal space after the closure of Dickens World this week.

The eighty pupils at WestEnd Classrooms use a specially created studio space within the building at Chatham Maritime but will have nowhere to practice when they start up lessons again in November.

The stage school is run by West End performers Neal Andrews and Sally Harmer who started it after receiving a grant from Medway Council in 2012.

Ms Harmer said she was told on Monday evening that the attraction would be closing.

She said: “When I went in on Tuesday evening for rehearsals the lampposts had gone and parts of the scenery had been moved.

“I don’t think any one of us thought it was going to happen. I thought someone would step in at the last moment and save it. I never thought for one moment they’d shut the theatre, the whole lot’s gone.

“It’s the most unbelievable venue, I think it’s amazing. It’s just going to shut down and be an empty shell, it’s just tragic.

“I’m just really sad and I’m sad for my kids as well. It’s in the middle of this other world, they get to use the stage and the theatre.”

WestEnd Classrooms offers lessons for children aged four to 18 and have been based at Dickens World since they started.

Last year pupils represented the South East at the national finals of Sky TV’s TalentFest at Blackpool Winter Gardens.

Students from the school have also been accepted into Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London School of Musical Theatre and Guildford School of Acting.

The school is now looking for a new venue and anyone who is able to help can contact them on 01634 250421.