Producers of a West End musical have picked out an Eccleshill teenager to play the lead role in their version of 'Annie'.

Talented Sophie McShera, 13, learned she had landed the prestigious part after her parents received a phone call at their home in Moorwell Place.

Birds of a feather star Leslie Joseph, who plays 'Doreen' in the BBC1 series, has been named to play orphanage owner Miss Hannigan in the production.

Proud dad Gerard, 41, a financial adviser, could not believe his ears as his daughter had only just finished starring alongside Gary Wilmot and Marti Webb in a two month touring production of The Goodbye Girl.

A pupil at St Joseph's College Sophie is expected to start rehearsals in late July. She will be performing for two weeks at a theatre in Bromley before the show transfers to the West End in London.

Mr McShera told the Telegraph & Argus: "It's unbelievable, I really can't believe it.

"Sophie's going to have to wear a wig, because Annie has got curly ginger hair, and she's going to have to get used to working with dogs as well.

"We should have known at the auditions she had a chance because the producer came and asked us if Sophie minded working with dogs.

"My wife's allergic to them and when they asked the girls if anyone had a problem with dogs Sophie said her mum wasn't sure whether she should or not."

Sophie will be staying in a hotel in London while she performs in the show which starts in September and is expected to run until December.

But according to her dad his only daughter - who has been at the Footsteps Theatre School in Eccleshill for nearly a yea - will not miss out on her education.

He said: "Her school have been wonderful.

"They've given her a load of work she must do when she's down there and the producers are providing her with a teacher who will make sure she does three hours studying a day."

But along with Sophie's mum Jane, 40, and brother Liam, 16, who plays for the Bradford Youth Band, the family have pledged to make plenty of trips down south to keep her company.

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