Banbury's oldest cinema set to close its doors next week

The ODEON cinema complex on the Horse Fair is due to show its final films next Monday after entertaining families and film buffs in the town for generations.

A spokesperson for the cinema issued a statement saying: "After years of making magical memories for generations of cinemagoers, our cinema will be closing its doors for the final time on June 5. We've been truly proud to serve our guests at ODEON Banbury.

"We know this will be disappointing news for our guests, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. We would like to thank them for choosing ODEON to enjoy the magic of cinema.

"Looking after our people is our number one priority and we are looking to secure jobs for as many team members as possible in one of our 116 other cinemas across the UK and Ireland."

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First opening as The Regal Cinema on October 7 1940, the building was purposefully designed and built to be a cinema by architects A.P. Starkey and Frederick Adkins.The very first showing inside the cinema was the 1939 war film starring Ralph Richardson, ‘The Four Feathers’ in an auditorium of 897 seats.

The cinema changed hands a number of times and added a second screen in what used to be the circle before being taken over by ODEON Theatres in 2001.

Banbury will now only have one cinema, The Light Group's new multi-screen theatre in the recently revitalised Castle Quay Waterside area.

The closure of Banbury’s cinema coincides with the shutting of four other ODEON cinemas across the country, including Oxford’s historic cinema on Magdalen Street, which sits in a Grade II-listed building that was first opened in 1924.