Former cinema owner has doubts about its revival

Trevor Harris said he had been in the cinema industry since 1954

A former cinema owner has said he would be pleased to see it reopened, but believes council plans to purchase the building are "very risky".

Oswestry Town Council has discussed buying the former Regal cinema and bringing in a national chain to run it.

Trevor Harris, who ran the Regal from 1983 to 1994, said his concern was that "cinemas at the moment, despite what a lot of people say, are in the doldrums".

He added: "You're talking about a lot of money to get this place going again."

The town council agreed last week to look at the possible purchase, using money collected from the sale of the former Smithfield cattle market site.

The decision followed the closure of a nearby community cinema, Kinoculture.

The council also agreed to look at other potential sites, and councillors were told two cinema chains had shown an interest.

The building has not been used as a cinema since 1994 and is currently used as a shop.

Mr Harris, who still works in the cinema industry, said the work required to put it back into use would be costly and questioned whether people in the town would support it.

Mr Harris said the building would need its concrete floor removed and soundproofing installing

Mr Harris said he was in contact with a lot of people in the industry and books films for a friend with a cinema in Cannock.

"The takings on some of these new films now are shocking," he said.

"You get an occasional film like Barbie or Oppenheimer that comes up, they take big money. But they're very, very few and far between."

He also questioned whether people in Oswestry would pay to use a cinema in the town, when there were multiplexes in nearby Wrexham and Shrewsbury.

Mr Harris said whoever took on the cinema on would have to think carefully about the pricing and the films on offer.