The owner of Keighley's Picture House has bought his main local rival.

Lifelong cinema buff Charles Morris this week added Skipton's Plaza to his mini-empire. The Plaza has been owned by three generations of the same family since the 1920s.

Cumbria man Mr Morris, who leases the Picture House from Bradford council, also owns small cinemas in Elland and Bowness.

He says his ownership of the Plaza, which will continue with the present staff, will not have a detrimental effect on the Picture House. He says: "We will have more flexibility with the film bookings and will be able to move films between the two cinemas and provide greater variety."

Mr Morris recently refitted the Picture House with new seats, and will provide Dolby Stereo sound and other improvements in time for the cinema's forthcoming 85th anniversary. He will soon fit new seats to the Plaza, and change programming times so it opens on Sundays and screens more films.

He adds: "The Plaza has served the town well for many years. I don't want to spoil its charm."

The Plaza, in Sackville Street, has been the only cinema in Skipton for the past ten years. It was originally a chapel but was converted into the Gem cinema in the days of silent pictures.

Entertainment, page 20

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