A country singer's performance was thrown into chaos when a large rowdy group threatened theatre staff and members of the audience.

Police were called to the Country Superstars show at The Woodville in Gravesend on Saturday night after about 15 people started kicking off and became "extremely aggressive".

They used threatening behaviour and language towards others in the audience as well as staff, and now face being banned from the venue.

Their actions have been condemned as completely unacceptable by Gravesham council, which runs the theatre.

Cabinet member for community and leisure Shane Mochrie-Cox said: "We are extremely angry and upset at the totally unacceptable behaviour which spoilt the show for the rest of the audience and the performers, and which caused considerable distress and upset for members of the public and theatre staff alike.

"I would like to apologise to all those who had their evening ruined and we will be offering full refunds to anyone who requests them.

"We had no reason to believe that this particular show would be the cause of any problems."

The group was allowed to remain in the auditorium having returned to their seats, but after the police left their behaviour deteriorated further.

They stayed until the end of the performance.

Melanie Norris, director of community and leisure at the council, added: "This was an incredibly difficult situation for our staff to manage in the face of threats and extremely aggressive and anti-social behaviour.

"We will, of course, be reviewing all of our procedures and taking what we learned from the events of Saturday evening and putting measures in place to try to prevent anything similar happening in future.

"The safety and welfare of our audiences and our staff is always our priority.

"We will be sharing any information we have with the police and investigating all possible lines of further action.

"While we are not responsible for the behaviour of these individuals, we will not hesitate to take action against those who seek to disrupt and cause trouble for the vast majority of people who simply wanted to have an enjoyable evening."

The council is studying CCTV of the incidents and anyone identified as having taken part will be banned from The Woodville indefinitely.

Country Superstars features long-time Dolly Parton impersonator Sarah Jayne along with singer Andy Crust and others who perform songs from iconic country stars including classics from Kenny Rogers, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Shania Twain and John Denver.

Tickets for Saturday's show cost £24.