NO more films will be shown at Tenbury’s Regal Cinema until the new heating system has proved itself.

A new electric boiler is due to be installed by the end of the month but volunteers running cinema want to make sure it is up to the job.

This means that Julie and Julia, which starts for three days on Saturday, may be the last film to be shown to the public at the cinema for a while.

However, the cinema aims to go-ahead with a traditional Christmas screening for local children – even if they have to watch dressed in coats, hats and gloves.

“We cannot afford a repeat of last winter when many people told us that the cinema was too cold,” said David Hambleton, one of the volunteers who runs The Regal.

“A customer satisfaction survey showed that 22 per cent of people thought that the cinema was uncomfortable because of cold.

“There was one film when we just had three people in the audience. If filmgoers have a bad experience, they will not come back and we cannot afford for that to happen. But we have to wait and see if it works.”

He welcomed the fact that the electrical supply to the cinema was being enhanced to enable the new boiler to be powered but was concerned that this was not the only problem.

“There are six radiators in The Regal and even if the boiler is powerful enough and the radiators are red hot, that is not always enough. We have people, including children, walking around in the dark and so cannot operate the radiators at such a temperature where they can burn.”

He said an opportunity to upgrade the whole central heating system had been available when extensive work was done after the 2007 floods and the chance had been missed.