Staff at the Queen’s Theatre are celebrating after being nominated for a prestigious award for their stunning set designs.

Mark Walters the head of set design at the theatre in Billet Lane, Hornchurch is in the running for a Off West End Award for best set designer for his work in last year’s The Rocky Horror Show.

Mark Walters’ set for The Rocky Horror Show, which enjoyed a sell-out run last May and June, featured a magnificent Frank N Furter’s castle framed by a gigantic pair of red stilletos.

The nomination saw the assesors from the Off West End Theatre Awards watching hundreds of productions at the theatre.

Memorable Queen’s set designs by Mark, who has worked all over the country as well as in the West End and on Broadway, also include Christmas pantomimes in recent years,

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Camp Horror, Hot Mikado.

Last year’s inaugural Off West End Awards ceremony saw enormous success for the Queen’s, which scooped no fewer than three accolades – The People’s Favourite Production Award for Camp Horror, The People’s Favourite Entertainment Award for

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as well as an award for Most Welcoming Theatre.

The OffWestEnd.com website, which champions London’s independent theatres, launched the annual awards – also known as The Offies - in 2010 to celebrate excellence in productions outside the West End.

The Queen’s is part of more than 80 participating venues across the capital and the winner for Best Set Design will be chosen by a panel of top critics at this year’s awards ceremony on Sunday 5 February.

The public can also vote for the Queen’s in categories including Most Welcoming Theatre and Best Theatre Bar – by visiting the Off West End website on www.offwestend.com, clicking on The Offies link on the right of the page and following the voting instructions by this Sunday January 22.

Visit www.queens-theatre.co.uk and www.offwestend.com