Organisers of the Thursford Christmas Spectacular are relieved that the popular production has escaped a repeat of last year's wintry disruptions during the cold snap.

The show, staged near Fakenham, lost about �175,000 from cancellations due to heavy snow last year, with one performance abandoned during the interval as continued flurries threatened to leave the audience stranded.

But this year the rural roads have been kept clear and there have been no unplanned closures – although heavy snowfalls in surrounding counties have left some coach groups unable to reach Norfolk.

Thursford manager Geraldine Rye said that had left up to 50 empty seats within the 1,500 capacity on a couple of occasions.

'We have been very fortunate that we have not had to close this year,' she said. 'Saturday was the worse day for snow, but we had all our men primed and ready to clear the car park because we knew it was coming. And the council has been working very hard to grit the A148 and keep the road into the village open.

'The only problem is that people are travelling long distances to get here from places like Essex and Lincolnshire, where a lot of the roads have been blocked. We are talking to those people's companies to see what we can do.'

The Thursford Christmas Spectacular runs two shows a day until December 23.