Singer falls into orchestra pit

Martinez has sung all over the world including London's Covent Garden

An opera singer has been taken to hospital as a precaution after she fell into the orchestra pit during a performance at Glyndebourne Festival.

Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez was playing the title role in Rusalka at the venue near Lewes, East Sussex.

A spokeswoman said there had been "an accident on stage", but Grammy-award winner Ms Martinez was "fine".

The audience was briefly asked to leave the theatre until the performance resumed with an understudy.

Accident

In a statement, Glyndebourne said: "The performance of Rusalka was stopped just before the end of Act 1 following an accident on the stage involving Ana Maria Martinez.

"Miss Martinez fell into the orchestra pit. Despite Ana María wanting to continue with the performance, she was immediately taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

"Fortunately, no-one else was hurt in this incident."

Glyndebourne has hosted an opera festival since 1934 and is holding special celebrations for its 75th anniversary this summer.

The festival runs from May until August each year and is attended by about 85,000 people.