Cinema staff are appealing for help after being driven plane crazy by a major new Hollywood film.

Managers at the Odeon multiplex, at the Gallagher Leisure Park, Thornbury, were delighted when they were told they had been chosen as the only cinema outside London to receive one of ten huge publicity stands for the new blockbuster Pearl Harbor.

But when the massive flat-pack stand arrived staff were left scratching their heads about how to assemble it, said bemused manager Cliff Baillie.

"When I first saw the display I was stunned," he said. "I now know why I don't make up MFI self-assembly furniture at home any more.

"We've had big display stands publicising movies before but nothing on this scale."

Mr Baillie said he was now contemplating bringing in a specialist to help assemble the stand before the film opens on June 1.

He said: "We're going to have a go but I think we could do with a bit of help.

"It says on the instructions that it needs a minimum of two people to assemble it properly but I think we will need five or six at least. It's going to be a bit of a headache.

"We could do with someone who's got a bit of engineering experience to come along and give us a hand.

"If there's anyone out there, maybe an engineering student, who wants to help out we will see them right for a couple of tickets when the movie comes out."

Instructions for the stand reveal that when the giant structure is completed it will tower from the cinema floor to the ceiling and measure a massive 18ft by 12ft by 4ft.

And banners featuring Japanese bombers will feature on drapes falling from the ceiling to the top of the stand.

The contents list which accompanies the pack shows how complicated it will be to put up.

Among the items included to make the display are: six big cardboard panels, three banners, four cardboard plane cut-outs, two short beams, two long beams, two sets of poles, eight small hooks, eight long hooks, six caps, eight chains, and 37 Viking clasps.

Anyone who thinks they can help assemble the stand can call in at the cinema.

The £135million love story, dubbed this year's Titanic, stars Ben Affleck as an American airforce pilot who is based at Pearl Harbor on the fateful day in 1941 when it was bombed by the Japanese.