POLESWORTH singer and former X Factor semi-finalist Niki Evans told this week how her West End dream has been turned into a nightmare by fraudsters.

The 36-year-old mum of two is still performing one of the leading roles in the hit musical Blood Brothers at London's Phoenix Theatre.

But her stay in the capital has been tainted by thieves who took her purse and then stole £2,500 from her bank account.

"I have never felt so stupid in my whole life," Niki told the Herald.

"I don't really want to go out in London again. I know this could happen anywhere, but this has really put me off.

"I am there to make money for my kids, and someone else has taken it.

"I am absolutely petrified it's going to happen again."

Niki had been to a bar on a rare night out in the city.

Her handbag was hanging over the back of her chair and she used a debit card to buy two drinks.

She went home none the wiser, but the next morning discovered her purse missing from the bag.

"I just went into a panic. I cancelled all my cards. I had about nine in there. But I was too late.

"They had already withdrawn cash with the card I had used in the bar. They must have seen me entering my pin number into the machine there."

Niki says that between 1am, when she left the bar, and 6am, cash withdrawals were made from other areas of London, as well as the card being used to buy clothes and perfume and book flights.

"That completely wiped out my account. People think you're loaded when you're on the West End, but that's not the case."

The singer, who made it to the final four of X Factor in 2007, said the bank has to carry out an investigation before money can be repaid.

As well as performing the role of Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers, Niki also has a new single coming out. It is hoped that her cover of Donna Summer's I Feel Love will be out in September.