THE ARCHANGEL Gabriel appeared to Mary as a postman on a bicycle no the Bible hasn't been rewritten, it's the Hayes Players' alternative to the traditional Nativity.

The Players have developed a version of biblical tales, which they say are "full of fun, pathos and excitement."

Adam and Eve, Cain, Noah and Jesus, all make an appearance in Nativity, a "spectacle of dance, music and drama" which stars local actors and pupils from the village's schools.

Nativity, which is performed in two parts The Mysteries, then Joe Carpenter and Son is unique because it has a church for a stage.

It begins as a series of cataclysmic events in a vacant plot in the Garden of Eden and ends triumphantly in a Bethlehem Inn with no vacanies.

Nativity, St Mary's Parish Church, Hayes St, Hayes, December 1 to 3, £7, 020 8462 5194.