BOLTON youngsters hoping for a career on the stage have the opportunity to audition for Britain's premiere youth theatre.

Auditions and interviews for The National Youth Theatre take place in Manchester from March 3-6.

Youngsters will be able to apply for openings in the company's acting and technical departments.

Membership of the company is open to anyone aged between13 and 21 years, regardless of experience, and everyone who applies before February 15 will get an interview or audition.

More than 3,000 young people are auditioned each year to take part in summer acting and technical workshops.

Applications are invited for courses in acting, adhops involve spending three weeks in London working under the direction of a professional theatre director. All acting members are than eligible to audition for Youth Theatre productions in future years.

Technical and administrative students have the opportunity to work with the professionals on one of the major summer productions presented by the company.

Anyone interested in taking part should contact the audition help line on 0845 603 9063 or e-mail auditions@nyt.org