Phoenix heads for panto stardom

Mrs Board: "She will be a lot bigger at Christmas"

Phoenix, the calf who became a national star after surviving the foot-and-mouth cull, has been offered a part in pantomime.

Talks are under way for the white calf to appear alongside entertainer Shane Ritchie in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Wimbledon Theatre in London at Christmas.

Pantomime production company Qdos has offered to pay around £400 a week for six weeks for Phoenix to be in the show.

Shane Ritchie would co-star

Phoenix, now three weeks old, was saved from execution when found still alive amongst the rest of her culled herd.

A spokesman for Qdos said negotiations had started to book Phoenix for the "fairly pivotal" bovine role in Jack and the Beanstalk.

"Everybody wants it to happen, it will be fantastic," he said.

The Devon farm where Phoenix lives is run by Michaela and Philip Board. The farm is still under foot-and-mouth movement restrictions.

Mrs Board, 35, said: "When we were approached with the possibility of Phoenix appearing in a pantomime we thought it was a joke.

"We are still talking about it at the moment, but nothing has been signed."

She added: "When she is little it would not be a problem appearing on the stage, but she will be a lot bigger at Christmas."

Buckets

Phoenix is also still under quarantine to see whether signs of foot-and-mouth develop.

She looks upon us as her as her mum and dad

Michaela Board

Phoenix survived for five days next to her dead mother after her herd was slaughtered on 18 April.

Vets were due to put Phoenix down. A sudden government policy change then meant Phoenix could live.

Mrs Board said Phoenix was "going very well".

"She has graduated from bottles of milk to buckets and has filled out," she added.

"She is playing with us now. She looks upon us as her as her mum and dad, I think."