THE national tour of Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker, which was due to visit Southampton next year, has been postponed until 2022.

It will now play Mayflower Theatre from Tuesday March 29 to Saturday April 2 2022.

Recent events and the inevitable knock-on effect these have had to the production’s schedule, coupled with the fact that the industry continues to wait for confirmation as to when theatres can reopen without social distancing has now made it impossible to mount this new production within this ever shortening time frame, Matthew Bourne told the Daily Echo.

He added: "Today’s announcement is heartbreaking for everyone in the New Adventures family. We love our loyal audiences throughout the UK and we feel a great sense of sadness that we will not get to perform for you on our annual tour at this time. This year would have seen our 18th consecutive Christmas season at Sadler’s Wells with our sparkling new production of Nutcracker! I know that there was great anticipation to see this beloved show back after nine years but, alas, we must wait another year for a return trip to Sweetieland! In the meantime, we look forward to shortly announcing a series of adventurous plans, both on and off stage, for 2021 and we live for the day when the curtain rises again on a New Adventures show."

Theatregoers who have booked for Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker do not need to do anything and will be contacted directly to move their tickets to the new dates.