An Oldham drag act, called The Vegan Queens, has decided to quit performing children’s story hour after receiving abuse.

Paul Burgess, also known as Gemini, and Stuart Crowther, as Miasma, are known as The Vegan Queens.

Speaking to The Oldham Times, Paul said he’s decided to quit as he doesn’t want children attending shows having to see abusive protesters.

Paul, who lives in Limeside with his partner Jason, had been booked to read stories at Didsbury Pride, following a successful story reading at the Darnhill Festival – which included children’s book The Gruffalo.

Paul first noticed abuse after receiving a comment on a post on the Didsbury Pride Facebook page.

In August, protesters disrupted a story hour in Bolton, leading to a fight breaking out, and extra security has been promised for a similar event in Oldham with pantomime dame Mama G.

Speaking to The Oldham Times, Paul said he has cancelled the Didsbury Pride booking and won’t be doing it again: “We’ve been following the stories, following comments on The Oldham Times post about Oldham having Mama G and needing extra security.

“We’ve just seen the climate around drag queen story time at the moment, which is being hijacked by homophobes and transphobes, and we just thought ‘is this worth it?’

“In particular, we read about children being really upset on their way into the venue in Bolton because of protesters outside and we didn’t want to be a part of anything that would upset children.

“We’ve cancelled Didsbury, we’ve cancelled a lot of work we had booked for Drag Queen story time, and we’ve made the decision that we’re not going to do it anymore.

“It’s just not fair, it’s not safe for us and it’s not safe for the children.”

Paul went on to say the events had been ‘hijacked,’ adding: “It’s no different to anyone going to see a pantomime, or letting them watch Bugs Bunny who drags up all the time.

“They’ve made it something hateful. We just didn’t want to be a part of any of that.

“They are the ones causing fear for children because they’re stood outside with their horrible banners – not somebody sat in a costume, reading a story in silly voices.

“A famous drag queen said recently: ‘drag is dangerous again’ - and that's true.”

Correction: This article has been updated with the correct drag names for Paul and Stuart.