The show will definitely go on for a popular touring circus - despite them having to make a last-minute change of destination.

Gandeys Circus, which comes to Ellesmere Port this week, usually pitches up on land at Heath Farm, off the A41. But the ground there is waterlogged and circus bosses were facing a major headache until they found an alternative site - at the National Waterways Museum.

The circus, which bills itself as Europe’s largest touring theatre big top production, will be based at the museum’s overspill car park on South Pier Road. For a few days this week, it will be home to the show’s 30-plus performers, 28 articulated vehicles and its 45 metre high big top featuring seating for more than 1,000 people.

Director Hayley Gandey said: “ In nearly 100 years of touring productions across the globe, never have we had such a continuous deluge of bad weather. This has caused us so many issues and while we have never had to cancel a show on our UK spring tour, all our fantastic team have had to work so hard through the night, in shifts, to ensure the show must go on.

"We are based here in Cheshire so it is an important venue for us and a show this size has never been to Ellesmere Port in over 30 years. The boat museum has really saved the day as we have really no chance of getting ready and providing parking on the Heath Farm site.”

The production, which run from Thursday (April 26) through to next Tuesday (May 1), has already sold ‘several thousand’ tickets, a Gandeys spokesman said.

It includes performers from across the world, from Colombia to Cuba, Kenya, France and Portugal. High-wire walkers The Gerlings will perform a four-person-high human pyramid without any safety wires or nets, while The Cuban Flyers will attempt the near-impossible triple somersault. Also on the bill will be Portuguese juggler Rogerio Goncalves, BMX bikers Denis and Anna, and the Kenyan Acrobats.

National Waterways Museum bosses are confident they can handle the influx of traffic to the site.

A museum spokesperson told The Standard: “The circus will be take place in an overflow car park which is not usually used by the museum.

“Their audience will use our main car park and we are confident that this will not affect anyone wishing to use our car park, or the local roads. And performances are mainly in the evenings, when our car park is more or less empty of visitors’ cars. We know the circus are great supporters of local charities and that many local families enjoy visiting so we are happy to help.”