A BLUE Plaque has been unveiled at the former home of an acclaimed ballet star in Dawlish.

John Gilpin, who became principal dancer at the Festival Ballet – now the English National Ballet – lived at the property in Penfield Gardens just before the second world war.

Representatives of Dawlish Museum, Dawlish History Society, Torbay Civic Society and the English National Ballet attended the ceremony at the house, now the home of Barrie Williams, to unveil the plaque along with some neighbours who knew John Gilpin.

Derek Ledbrooke, a childhood friend of Gilpin's, who lives in Penfield Gardens, performed the unveiling.

Gilpin, who died in 1983, was talent spotted at the age of eight at the Plymouth Society of Music competition and offered a scholarship to study ballet in London.

His career flourished and he went on to become the Festival Ballet's artistic director before he was forced to retire because of illness and injury.

Just weeks after marrying Princess Antoinette of Monaco, he died of a heart attack.