The granddaughter of a much-loved local reporter has made her West End acting debut at the age of seven.

Sophie Wythe, whose grandfather was the late Doug Wythe, is appearing in The Sound of Music in the London Palladium.

Sophie continues the family interest in entertainment as her dad Laurence, 34, is a former amateur actor and is now a composer and lyricist.

He said: “My father would have been proud of Sophie. He used to write articles about me when I was in shows in London and around the country and later, as a composer, about my work.

“Sophie seems to have inherited the genes of creativity passed to me by her grandfather.”

Sophie plays Marta, the second youngest of the von Trapp children, and the show runs until February 21.

From the age of two she trained at the Theatre Street drama school in south-east London, run by her mum Claire, 34, and beat hundreds of other hopefuls for the Palladium part.

She and her family live in Bexleyheath but her parents are both originally from Folkestone.

Laurence was a member of FHODS (Folkestone and Hythe Operatic and Dramatic Society). One of the musicals he composed has had a successful production in Chicago and will be performed in New York next year.

Sophie was only six months old when Doug died suddenly on July 9, 2001, aged just 57.

He had been the Kentish Express’s chief reporter for Hythe and Romney Marsh and was also widely known in Ashford for his humorous column The Last Word.

He had worked for the Kent Messenger Group for 29 years and lived in Hythe.

His widow, Penelope, still lives there and his other two children, Stuart and Hannah, live in Romney Marsh and Berkshire.