The show must go on! Curtain up on Kirkwall panto after £24k bill scare

A huge energy bill error, amounting to 60,000 units, left a Kirkwall drama group with a £24,000 bill to pay and fears over their future.

Palace Players received the eye-watering invoice for their Junction Road premises, back in August, from provider SSE.

As the curtain goes up on this year’s Kirkwall pantomime, Rumpelstiltskin, on Saturday, Palace Players has thanked energy charity THAW Orkney, for coming to its rescue.

But just a few short weeks ago, committee members were wishing that they — like the
fairy tale villain — could spin straw into gold. 

They were forced to put on brave faces after receiving the exorbitant invoice earlier this year.

At the time, the energy provider insisted that the bill was correct — but has this week offered an emphatic public apology to the community group.

Read the full story, and a preview of the pantomime, in The Orcadian, available now — in shops and online.

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