IF Jane Austen had visited Warrington, what would she have thought about the town?

The audience at an event at Padgate Library believe the first thing that would have caught her eye would be Ikea and that she was just the sort of person who would have enjoyed a trip to Marks and Spencer.

Theatre company LipService visited the library to perform their comic show, Thrills and Quills, which takes a look at Austen’s letters and imagines what the 18th century writer would have done with a Twitter account.

As part of the show, guests were invited to tell actors about their hometown and the group then wrote a fictional letter from the Pride and Prejudice author to her sister, Cassandra, about an imagined trip.

It began: “I find myself in an unusual part of the North of England, Warrington to be precise, as dear a little hamlet as ever you saw. The first thing one notices when arriving is the Ikea.

“It is a charming place and I availed myself of the local delicacy Swedish meatballs, with lingonberries.”

The fictional visit continued with a trip to The Farmers Arms pub, the Golden Gates and a tour of Gemini Retail Park.

And the audience imagined what Austen, famous for her wickedly funny observations of her neighbours, would have made of residents.

The letter read: “My companions shouted out ‘hiya, alright?’ I had no idea what they were saying but joined in nonetheless.

“People are so friendly here and we shall be sad to leave. The following morning, I waved goodbye to my hosts who wished me well and left me with the following piece of advice - ‘now the Wires’.”

The popular performance brought Austen fans from all over the town to the Insall Road centre.

It was organised as part of a wider celebration to make 200 years since the death of the classic author and looking at the way communication has changed since she was at the height of her career.

A writing bureau was also installed at the library to encourage visitors to rediscover the art of letter writing through a national project called The Travelling Letter Exchange. It will see letters written at Padgate Library delivered to members of libraries all over the country and some of the best will be published in an ebook.