The wardrobe mistress at the Oasthouse Theatre has got quite a task on her hands.

Beryl Lacey has been making costumes for the Rainham Theatrical Society for almost five years and is facing one of her biggest challenges yet.

The amateur dramatics group is staging the wartime comedy Dad’s Army by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, one of the best-loved television sitcoms of all time.

Beryl’s job is to kit out the cast in authentic costumes for the era which hasn’t been an easy task. Many of the costumes had to be modified to accommodate a few larger waistlines.

She said: “The problem is, everyone is a lot bigger nowadays, our diets are very different to those in the 1940s.

“I have 28 cast members to dress, some with up to four costume changes. It’s the most time-consuming task I’ve ever had in my time at the theatre. “

Beryl spent weeks behind a sewing machine preparing all the costumes; including authentic battledress jackets for the men and 40s-style dresses for the women.

She said: “It’s been a gigantic task. Dad's Army wore shorter battledress jackets and I only had a couple of originals. I copied the design of those to make some for the rest of the cast. I had to cut the bottoms off longer jackets to make them.

“I also had to mutilate some uniforms to make them fit. I cut up other jackets and added in big pleats and darts.”

Beryl created the costumes for a production of 'Allo 'Allo at the theatre last year, which involved making German and Italian army uniforms, but this is the first time she has had to create so many British military uniforms.

She said: “I started in the middle of January and it has become a full time job; spending all day, everyday, sewing. But I love doing it.

“I completed all the costumes but when we started dress rehearsals had to adjust them all again. There are a lot of costume changes and the cast couldn’t undo all the buttons to change quickly enough. So I have been cutting all the jackets up at the back and adding in Velcro.

“The cast members are still working on the costume changes but they are getting much faster now.”