THE theme from Mission Impossible and the tale of Peter Wolf were among the tunes performed by youngsters to hundreds of their peers as part of a special show.

The South Downs Youth Orchestra (SDYO) performed two concerts at Uckfield's Civic Centre for several hundred primary school children.

The writer and broadcaster Chris Bowers joined the event to narrate Peter and the Wolf, the classic tale by Sergei Prokofiev.

The orchestra was made up of some 85 school pupils and marked a rare chance for primary-age children to hear a full symphony orchestra.

The show also included performances of John Adams' 'Short Ride in a Fast Machine', 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' by Edvard Grieg, the third movement of Mozart's fourth horn concerto, and John Williams' Harry Potter Symphonic suite.

Mr Bowers, who lives in Ringmer, remembered being given a record of Peter and the Wolf for Christmas when he was just six years old, and said he had "no hesitation" in accepting the invitation to perform.

He said: “My sister and I found it very odd that, as a fairy tale, it didn’t have a happy ending. So we wrote one.

"Two years later, the BBC newsreader Richard Baker came to our local concert hall, the Liverpool Philharmonic, to narrate Peter and the Wolf, so we sent him our alternative ending, and he read it out to a packed concert hall.”

The happier ending made it onto the sleeve of the 1971 Classics for Pleasure recording of Peter and the Wolf, also narrated by Richard Baker.

He added: “I feel I have a special connection with Peter and the Wolf, so when SDYO asked if I’d narrate it for the schools concerts, I had no hesitation in saying yes."

After the concerts the children in the audience were invited to short workshops where they could meet members of the orchestra and "have a go" on the instruments, including clarinets, trumpets and violins.