Campaign to save cinema where Beatles played

The Reel cinema has been closed since 2019

An art deco cinema which survived World War Two bombing raids and has hosted The Beatles is now at the centre of a new battle to secure its future.

The Reel cinema, originally known as the Royal, on Derry's Cross in Plymouth, has been closed since 2019.

Other groups including The Rolling Stones and The Walker Brothers played on the stage of the cinema during the 1960s, when it was part of the ABC chain.

The Plymouth Royal Cinema Community Benefit Society is now raising £1m as part of a bid to save the cinema, which opened in 1938, as a cultural space.

The Reel survived Nazi bombing in World War Two

"If a building has a soul, it's this one," said Karl Parsons, chair of the society.

He said: "You had The Beatles, who famously visited twice; Billy Fury, Cliff Richard and The Shadows.

"The last people to perform on the stage were Morecambe and Wise in 1976."

Mr Parsons said the society aimed to "revitalise the building as a visual media hub, a community space, a grassroots music venue and as a destination that people want to go to".

The society was hoping to have three screens "as more of a boutique arts cinema", but not to compete with other cinema chains, he said.

Plymouth historian Chris Robinson described the cinema as "one of the most important cinemas left in the country".

He said: "William Riddle Glen, who designed around 70 picture houses for the Associated British Cinema (ABC) group, was quite a legend. And this is just about the only one with a chance of still being a cinema.

"All the others have closed."

The Beatles visited The Royal twice

Ian Carroll, who is part of the campaign to Save the Royal had memories of coming to see the film Grease at the cinema in 1978.

"I queued around the block and by the time I got to the front they'd sold out so I had to come back the next day," he said.

"Back in those days you could go to the cinema and it was that busy,'' he said.

Mr Parsons said the society only had a few months to raise enough money to bid for the lease.

Fellow campaigner Caroline Blackler said "thousands of people" had been through the cinema's doors since 1938.

"They've seen films, they've seen comedians, they've seen bands, there are so many memories inside this building that we have to save it."