A NEW drama company has been awarded funding from Arts Council England to perform a play called Monopoleyes at Manchester theatres in November.

Leigh-based Stolen Thread Productions Ltd was formed in January as the brainchild of actor Will Travis, actress Susan McArdle and producer Elise Willamson.

Elise, 24, of Rothay Street, Leigh, said: “We are totally over the moon as a company.

“The fact that we have been awarded this funding means we can put on more for people in Leigh, which is a town we are proud to support.”

Will, who has appeared in This Is England '86, '88 and '90, Coronation Street and Where The Heart Is, was born in Leigh.

Susan is currently starring in hit children’s TV show Hetty Feather and has appeared in The Syndicate and Coronation Street.

The name Stolen Thread comes from a Leigh legend about reed-maker Thomas Highs, who was born in the town in 1718.

He claimed to be the true inventor of the spinning jenny, a multi-spindle spinning frame that was one of the key developments in the industrialisation of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution.

James Hargreaves controversially has gone down in history as being the inventor.