THE prospect of seeing former Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw nude on stage doesn't appear to be getting anyone in Dartford hot under the collar.

The 29-year-old actress, whose character Maxine was recently murdered in the soap, will shed her clothes when she appears in controversial play, The Blue Room, at the Orchard Theatre next month.

Dartford is among the venues for the first-ever major national tour of the play which caused a sensation when it opened in 1998 with Nicole Kidman in the Tracy Shaw role.

The tour also takes in Londonderry in Northern Ireland, where church and civic leaders have condemned the play's on-stage nudity and called for it to be banned.

Alderman Mary Hamilton, deputy mayor of Londonderry, said: "I do not think we need to be shown these kind of things in a theatre. It could give young people the green light for all sorts of things."

Miss Shaw said: "Everybody knows it for its nudity but it is much more than that. It is an incredible piece of modern day theatre."

The Orchard Theatre insisted it had received no objections from anyone regarding the production which runs at the theatre from February 17-22. Entry will be restricted to adults only.