Cats is a favourite with tourists to London

Henshall said: "We are all devastated.

"Our bookings have been climbing steadily but since the barbaric attacks on the World Trade Center, everything has stopped."

The British Tourist Board has already estimated the country will suffer losses of about �2.5bn due to fear of flying after the US attacks and the aftermath of foot-and-mouth disease.

Long-haul markets such as the US, Canada, Japan and New Zealand are expected to drop sharply in the final quarter of 2001.

Peggy Sue was reportedly losing �30,000 a week as audiences stayed away.

"September and October are usually the busiest times in the West End as that is when most Americans travel here independently. But obviously most of them have opted to stay home," a spokesman for Triumph Entertainment told the Daily Telegraph.

Usually about 30 % of London's theatres are filled by foreign tourists.

Other shows which are set to close are Notre Dame de Paris, which originally starred Dannii Minogue, and political satire Feelgood.

Dannii Minogue's run in Notre Dame de Paris was well-received

London theatres have begun to monitor ticket sales to see if the West End will mirror the downturn on Broadway, which have forced huge cuts.

Six productions on Broadway have taken 25% pay cuts to stave off the threat of closure as theatre-goers stay away.

Although, box office sales in the US have started to rise they are still considerably down on previous years.

A huge advertising campaign has also been launched in an attempt to win back theatre-goers.

This includes the recording of the Frank Sinatra classic New York, New York by 100 music stars, accompanied by a video shot in Times Square.

But the Society of London Theatres had not yet asked for wage cuts, said London unions.