STARDOM is beckoning for a Bolton girl who has earned the chance to perform at the London Palladium.

Alexandra Barton, aged 21, of Horwich, landed a leading part in a new West End musical, To Die For, while still a dance student in her final year at the University of Surrey, Roehampton.

Dancing has been a passion for Alexandra since she was five when she started at the Lindsay Heywood School of Dance in Westhoughton. But this is her first professional show. "I am really excited," she said. "I am still at university and this is a really big deal."

The former Sacred Heart School, Westhoughton, and St Joseph's High, Horwich, pupil said: " I am going to be very nervous before the show but also excited.

"But once I am on stage, the nerves normally disappear and I am okay."

The show could be the platform Alexandra needs to embark on a career on stage.

"There isn't really a step up from the Palladium but I would like to stay in the West End," she said.