Inspiration for Leah Bell’s portrayal of ageing cleaner-turned-sex-chat-worker Gladys in the raucous comedy Dirty Dusting came from an unlikely source – her mother.

“Truth be told, I’m wearing my mother’s clothes as the character,” laughs the 62-year-old stage actress who directs the show as well as starring in it with TV’s Benidorm’s Crissy Rock and Dolores Porretta.

Dirty Dusting follows the lives of three cleaning ladies on the verge of redundancy who make a spur-of-the-moment decision to start a sex chat phone-line to earn some money.

“You don’t expect that age group to really be discussing sex, you certainly don’t think they have it,” says Leah, who grew up in a “rough” area of Newcastle.

And therein lies the parallel to her mother who Leah says belongs to a generation reticent about the topic.

“Her attitude would be she’d be talking to you in a normal voice and if anything to do with ’that’ came up it would go to a whisper,” remembers Leah, whose mum saw the show and thought it was “very funny”.

It is this dynamic which makes Dirty Dusting – packed full of raunchy humour – so hilarious, explains Leah, who lives with her husband in Bedlington, Northumberland.

She says: “We get big belly laughs not little titters, which is great because it spurs us on. It’s naughty – but I’ve heard much worse walking back from the pub on a Saturday night!”

Leah’s character, “the kind that’s been married forever and a day”, finds herself in totally uncharteded waters with the saucy material she’s expected to repeat over the phone.

But panto-star Leah admits she would also be at a loss in the same situation. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t know what to say now – I just read the script,” she chuckles.

“I take my hat off to them,” she says. “It can’t be easy, but you could do it while knitting at the same time!”

Written by Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, the show was first premiered in 2003 and Leah says the current production has been on tour for two years with no signs of stopping just yet.

The cast, who all get on well, are in the middle of an eight-week run and Leah’s loving life on the road, visiting venues – and charity shops – all over the country.

She says: “I have to pretend to my husband that I’m going to work and it’s a bit of a drag, but when I get round the corner I’m like: ’Yes! Here we go!’"

When she’s not touring with Dirty Dusting, Leah produces and features in pantomimes, such as Dick Whittington.

Starting out, aged 17, as a singer on tour with veteran entertainer Ken Dodd, Leah says she has “no idea” where her decision to become a performer came from.

But as her career grew and grew – Leah has worked with Norman Wisdom, Danny La Rue and David Jason – one aspect of her life has remained consistent: the encouragement from her mum.

Leah remembers: “She was very supportive during my career, she came to see everything, and surprise, surprise I was always the best according to her.”

Wyllyotts Theatre, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Friday, May 15, 8pm. Details: 01707 645005, wyllyottstheatre.co.uk