They are renowned for standing up to one of the most powerful witches in fairytale history.

But when the seven dwarfs showed off their skills at Addingham Pantomime’s production of Snow White, the colourful characters were literally brought to their knees.

For the cuddly heroes – all of whom were played by adults or teenagers in the panto – had to be treated for knee problems after crawling around on the stage during weeks of rehearsals.

And it got so bad that Ilkley therapist Jenny Howarth was drafted in to care for their aching joints and set up treatment beds in the wings.

Addingham Pantomime group had been rehearsing the production for several weeks when the problems began.

Unlike the traditional Disney version of the fairytale, the dwarfs were given different names including R.C. played by Paul Jennings, Nursey played by Angela Clarke, Mardy played by Mark Gregory, Sniffly played by Emily Tyfoe, Lardy played by Collette Howarth, Dozy played by Eleanor Ellis and Loopy played by Rory Stead.

To ensure that the adults acting as dwarfs were smaller than the rest of the cast, actors agreed to play their parts crawling around on their knees, while their legs were hidden beneath long robes.

But the knee problems started just days into the show’s run at the village Memorial Hall. Long rehearsals followed by the performance had taken its toll on all of the dwarfs, including some of the younger teenage members of the cast.

Paul Jennings, 33, who played R.C., said: “When we started out the producers tried to minimise the movements of the dwarfs as far as possible so that we weren’t crawling about too much and had also tried to ensure that none of us spent too long on stage at any one time.

“Each of the shows lasted two and a half hours and I did start to feel it after a while. When we originally started we agreed that we would protect our knees with plumber’s knee pads but I don’t think they were meant for shuffling around on stage.

“I had an old knee injury which made things a bit worse.”

Mum Angie Clark, 41, who played Nursey, said: “The knee pads were a huge help but our knees still hurt quite a bit – especially when we were shuffling around. We were very rel-ieved when Jenny offered to help.”

As the dwarfs soothed their legs after each performance, Jenny, whose 14-year-old daughter Collette played Lardy in the show, offered to give out treatment.

Mrs Howarth said: “I was delighted to be able to help. I didn’t hesitate. As soon as I realised how bad they were feeling, I set up my treatment bed in the wings and offered all seven of them assistance throughout the evening performances.”