Thousands of tickets remain unsold for pantomimes across Kent amid fears of looming restrictions after Christmas.

Although many shows have sold well up to now, the days after December 25 have swathes of empty seats and across Kent theatres on January 2, nearly 2,000 remain unoccupied for the evening show, a KentOnline survey has revealed.

Watch last night's Lowdown here

Ticket sales are being hit after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned more measures might be required in the days after Christmas to tackle the soaring number of Covid cases.

In Kent, at the time of writing our survey found there were 1,912 tickets spare for the evening of Sunday, January 2 – the final show of panto season for the majority of venues.

Out of the twelve theatres putting on a pantos across the county, nine continue into the new year and eight of those are struggling to sell seats.

At the Assembly Hall in Tunbridge Wells, there were still 443 seats available for that performance.

The Orchard Theatre in Dartford still had 65 seats unsold and the Hazlitt in Maidstone was 75 seat sales short of a full house.

The Stag in Sevenoaks had 363 seats left and The Woodville in Gravesend, which claims to be the only socially distance panto in the land, needed to sell another 107 tickets for a sell-out.

The small EM Forster Theatre in Tonbridge had 39 seats left, Theatre Royal in Margate had 279, and Brake Hall in Ashford also needed to sell 292 seats.

Pantomimes are the highest grossing shows for theatres and production companies and this year have provided vital work for those in the creative industry.

However, some theatre bosses are calling for more help from the government as they fear some smaller venues will have to close because they are not making enough money.

For many actors, dancers and singers, this was their first chance to get back on stage in front of an audience in more than 18 months.

In Rainham, the panto at the Oast House Theatre starts after Christmas but it has already seen a 20% drop in bookings.

Dean Caston, who runs the venue, said: "I think it's a lot of the groups that usually book aren't meeting to come to the theatre now.

"There's certainly some hesitance there from people with coming into a confined space."

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out a £1bn fund to help businesses hit by Covid, with £30million to support the arts sector.

Mr Caston commented: "I think the government have done a brilliant job with funding up until now, and it's not just the arts industry that needs help.

"We always need more money, especially with what's happening at the moment – many theatres will suffer and unfortunately some will close."

He continued: "In many cases the money from the pantomime sets theatres up for the following year.

"If they haven't got that they're going to struggle to continue to go on and take bookings during the year.

"It is disappointing but the show must go on as you would say.

"I'm hoping that we're able to continue and we can see live performances and full theatres in 2022."

But not all theatres seem to be struggling with a drop in ticket sales.

'We've had some fantastic reviews saying it's like the future of pantomime.'

Kent's most popular pantomime at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury is nearly sold-out right up until the last show on Sunday, January 9.

It stars both pop icon Duncan James and Strictly Come Dancing’s Joanne Clifton.

The words 'Last Few!' are plastered across its booking site and when going through to check availability there are just a few seats left dotted around the theatre for shows this side of Christmas.

After Christmas these sales continue for the Marlowe, completely bucking the trend for Kent.

Ben Roddy, who is playing the dame in the Marlowe pantomime, said: "We're really proud this year at the Marlowe for the way our show has evolved.

"We've had some fantastic reviews saying it's like the future of pantomime.

"We're holding a mirror up to society."

And even if people have booked a ticket, there remains uncertainty about whether shows will go ahead.

Some theatres, including the Central Theatre in Chatham, The Woodville in Gravesend and the Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone, have already been forced to cancel performances due to positive lateral flow tests.