Weymouth: Residents ‘more aware’ town’s cinema has closed.

A movie fan who set up a petition calling for his town’s only cinema to stay open said people now understood it was a good thing.

Karen Read, who lives in Weymouth, called on Cineworld to consider reopening its new Bond Street branch. Closed on 30th December After 25 years.

He said having a cinema in the town gave it something different from its arcades, pubs and clubs and helped boost the local economy.

Just over 1,000 people supported the call, but the closure means the town’s nearest cinema is in Dorchester, some eight miles (12.8 km) away.

“The effect is that there is not much to do in the evenings or during the day. You have arcades, pubs and clubs and a cinema is something different,” Ms Reed said.

“Now we’re going to have a large vacant building that will attract people to move in.

“Kids are realizing that they can’t just go after school. More people are more aware that it’s closed.”

She said she had mobility issues and the bus journey to the cinema in Dorchester would take an hour.

In his petition, he said that cinema “has been the foundation stone of [Weymouth residents’] social life” and that Weymouth was “slowly turning into a ghost town”.

A Weymouth Town Council spokesman said: “We are sorry to see this facility go and will work with our partners to support potential future businesses in the area.”

Cineworld said late last year it was closing other branches in Northampton, Castleford in West Yorkshire, Leigh in Greater Manchester and Middlesbrough.

Last month the cinema giant said in a statement: “We would like to thank all our customers for choosing Cineworld Weymouth as their local cinema.”

Cineworld at Tower Retail Park in Poole is also due to close on January 19.

Weymouth’s bowling alley closed in 2019 and Dorset Council said last month it wanted to. The demolition company for this empty building in St Nicholas Street.