More talented young Cubs, Scouts, Brownies and Guides are required to audition for the spectacular Oxfordshire Gang Show.

Organisers have already managed to find more than 100 older children, aged 11 and upwards, to form a senior gang for the performance.

They are now looking for about 50 children, aged between eight and 12, to make up a junior gang for the event in March next year.

The Oxfordshire Gang Show is a huge annual show which involves 250 boys and girls, supported by around 50 adults.

Many of the cast will never have performed on the stage before, but Kim Griffiths, who will be sitting in the show’s director’s chair for the third year, said: “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime. If they only do it once in their life, it’s well worth doing.

“The skills they will learn and the friendships they will make, they will never get anywhere else.

“I think it’s something every child really should try if they can.”

This year’s junior gang performance will focus on the theme of a day out at the seaside, with cast members in 1920s’ costumes, singing and dancing in front of a backdrop of beach huts.

The senior gang will perform a host of different pieces, including one entitled Right Said Fred, one about dreams, one on the topic of pirates, an ‘at the museum’ piece and an Arabian Nights tribute.

Senior gang rehearsals for the show, which will be held at the New Theatre, George Street, Oxford, from March 10 to 14 next year, have already begun.

Ms Griffiths said there had been an impressive turnout for the auditions.

She said: “More children arrived than we needed, which is exactly what we want, because it actually makes people work harder at the auditions and fight for places “They realise it’s a proper audition, not just a formality.”

The next auditions will be held on Saturday, at the 10th Oxford Scout Hall, in William Street, Marston, from 1pm.

Any Cubs, Brownies, Scouts and Guides in the county who meet the age requirements are invited to come along to audition.