AIRTON musician Christine Dittman will play her last concert with Lancaster's Haffner Orchestra on Saturday.

She is retiring after leading the orchestra's cello section since February 2013. However she hopes to continue to play and teach locally and is currently staging a series of concerts at the village's Friends' Meeting House which dates back to 1640.

“I shall miss the orchestral playing but the journey over remote country roads in all weathers and late at night will not be missed," she said. "The orchestra is a delight musically and socially.”

The concert - which takes place at Lancaster's Ashton Hall - will be conducted by Haffner’s musical director Justin Doyle, who lives in Skipton.

The programme will be Shakespeare-related, including Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night's Dream and Purcell’s Fairy Queen.

Justin will also give a talk at 6.30pm, which is free of charge.

For more information and tickets, visit haffnerorchestra.org, or ring 01524 582394.