A pantomime dame has been "recognised as a political candidate" after releasing a spoof election video.

The Marlowe theatre in Canterbury launched a parody recording entitled The Mother Goose Party Political Broadcast, as a marketing stunt for its festive show.

The video features Ben Roddy as pantomime dame Mother Goose, vying for last-minute votes in a bid to “be your next prime minister.”

But the three-minute clip, which has reached more than 45,000 people on social media, has seen The Marlowe forced to register as a political advertiser.

The theatre's head of marketing Ben Travis was asked to send personal documents including a copy of his driver's license to Facebook's headquarters, in order to publish the comic video.

“We appealed the decision and said that it was a parody, but we still had to go through the process for Mother Goose,” he said.

“We’re glad that Facebook are doing the checks that they need to do and we’re delighted that Mother Goose is now officially recognised as a political candidate."

The pantomime is running at The Marlowe until January 12.

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