Frozen The Musical has become the latest show to be hit by Covid and has cancelled all performances until after Christmas.

The popular family show, based on the Disney film, announced this morning that it was being forced to close the gates of Arendelle.

The new musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane had been playing to sell-out audiences in the West End every week since it arrived earlier this year - having had its initial opening date delayed because of the start of the pandemic.

Despite a number of musicals, plays and pantomimes having been hit by virus outbreaks in the last few days Frozen was one of the few West End casts to have remained unaffected until now - raising the hopes of ticketholders who had bookings for pre-festive performances that the show might go on.

But in an announcement early on Wednesday morning, directors confirmed that it too had been hit by the rising numbers of cases in the capital.

In a statement the show explained: "Due to Covid-enforced absences within our cast and crew, sadly performances of Frozen on Wednesday 22nd, Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th December have been cancelled.

"We hope to recommence performances on Wednesday 29th December and will update customers with further information, should it become necessary. Guests affected by this change will be contacted by their point of purchase by email in the coming days with information about credit vouchers or to receive a full refund.

"On behalf of everyone at Frozen, we apologise for the disappointment and for any inconvenience this may cause. We are doing all we can at this very difficult time and thank you for your continued support and understanding."

Frozen now joins around 10 productions in the capital to have been affected by Covid while top attractions The Natural History Museum and Shrek's Adventure are also closed because of staff shortages.

Among those to have been suffering from the disruption is Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

After a number of cancellations this week, as a result of positive Covid tests among the company, it was announced on Tuesday evening that a decision has been made to now suspend all performances until February 9.

In a statement it said: "The spread of the Omicron variant is devastating. Like so many theatres up and down the country day after day we are forced to make decisions (often at short notice) based on the latest round of test results. This is incredibly difficult for our cast, company and of course, audiences many of whom have travelled long distances and spend considerable sums on transport, hotels etc.

"To avoid more disruption and to protect the quality of the show we give our audiences we have no option but to suspend all performances of Cinderella until February 9, 2022."

Other musicals also staying shut until after Christmas Day are Dear Evan Hansen and The Book of Mormon - both of which are expected to reopen on December 27.

Disney's The Lion King remains closed until December 28 as does Matilda while Mamma Mia, based on the songs by Abba, is hoping to reopen on December 29 to ticket holders.