THE stars of The Full Monty delighted the audience at Wessex Heartbeat's charity gala on Sunday - despite just learning that their West End show was about to be axed.

The West End show, based on the hit British film of the same name, is to close in weeks having failed to draw in sufficient audiences it has been revealed.

The audience at Sunday night's Wessex Heartbeat Swing from the Heart charity gala at The Mayflower were unaware of the news as the stars went through their routine on stage.

They performed two numbers from the musical, joining Matthew Kelly, Brian Conley, Jane McDonald and others in the show, which was performed in the presence of the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

And despite learning that weekend that they could soon be out of a job, the troupe proved that, for the sake of a popular charity, the show must go on.

Alan Blair, director of the Wessex Heartbeat Appeal said: "I didn't know at the time. It's very sad. We were very delighted when they accepted our invitation to come down and perform. If they did know, it didn't stop their enthusiastic performance, which makes us even more grateful that they supported us as they did."

The show, which was performed to a near sell-out audience of 2,000, raised about £50,000 for the charity, which raises funds for Southampton General Hospital's cardiac unit.