Peter Bowles replaced by James Woolley in Stop! – The Play

Veteran actor Peter Bowles has withdrawn from the upcoming world premiere of Stop! – The Play.

Bowles, 78, left the production as rehearsals were about to begin, and has been replaced last minute by James Woolley.

The play by David Spicer is billed as a "madcap, theatrical comedy, in which the worst night in the theatre becomes the most hilarious play in town."

It runs at at Trafalgar Studios 2 from 2 to 27 June 2015. The cast also features 2010 Edinburgh Comedy Award-winner Adam Riches.

Producer Timothy Beckmann, a former Reduced Shakespeare Company member, said: "It has been a bit of a nightmare… but just the sort of calamitous event that occurs in each scene of our play! Mr Bowles had a last-minute change of heart and we have to respect his decision.

"We are thrilled that another veteran of stage and screen, James Woolley, was available and stepped in at such short notice to save the day. Rehearsals are now going great guns."