NEV Roby, Altrincham Garrick’s manager, visited the neighbouring police station on Monday night - to let them know a gun was to be fired in the theatre.

But officers took no action - because the weapon was being tested for use in the society’s latest production, the classic musical West Side Story.

Nev said: “When you have the use of a firearm in a production you have to inform the police. This is mainly due to the fact that if they got a report that shooting could be heard they would then be aware of why shooting was being heard.

“We notified them of the normal time for this to be done but unfortunately the gun was dropped and it jammed so we had to make sure the reserve gun was working properly. This was outside the normal arrangements. We had to inform the police again.”

Nev said the gun being used fires blanks and he expects being in contact with police again when the society’s new season gets under way in September.

He said: “Next season we’ve got Oh What A Lovely War and quite a few guns will be fired in that one.”

* Altrincham Garrick will launch its new season with The Ladykillers, which runs from September 15-20. Oh What A Lovely War runs from November 10-15.