SAVE our cinema ? that was the message of Okehampton residents at a meeting last week to discuss the future of the town?s Carlton Cinema.

The one-screen cinema in St James Street, Okehampton, was built in 1937 and has a 270-seat capacity.

The cinema was forced to close last October due to the sudden illness of the owner John Pope, who had run it for more than 30 years.

It goes up for auction on Wednesday, April 28, and the sale is being handled by Kivells of Tavistock who have set a guide price of £200,000.

Concerned residents met in the Charter Hall last week to discuss what could be done to try and ensure a cinema facility is retained in the town.

The Rev Philip Wagstaff, chairman of the locality group of Okehampton Market and Coastal Towns Initiative, chaired the meeting.

He said: ?There is a real sense that the cinema is an important part of Okehampton life.

?It is a community facility that can be used by everybody. Families can come to the cinema, young people can come, older people can come, it is a resource and a meeting point for the community.?

Mr Wagstaff outlined three possible options which had been discussed and were open to those interested in keeping a film facility in Okehampton.

Firstly, there was the possibility of setting up a community cinema project if there was enough interest and financial backing. The group could try to buy and run the cinema itself, funded by a secured loan and expanding its operation by opening the complex up for community group use and hire for other arts and recreational events.

Secondly, a business or individual might buy the cinema and run it as a going concern, in which case the community cinema group would be able to offer its assistance to help and support the cinema.

Thirdly, if the site was bought for redevelopment for use other than as a cinema ? housing, a car park, an entertainment venue ? the group would then have to look at finding a location for showing films somewhere else in the town.

Mr Wagstaff urged anyone interested in helping set up a community cinema group in Okehampton to contact the Okehampton MCTI group to register their interest.

The group will gauge the level of support for the cinema in the community before deciding on the best strategy ahead of the auction in a fortnight?s time.

Michael Saunby, another member of the MCTI locality group, summed up the group?s position: ?It is our intention to create a community cinema, and if there are individuals already looking at buying it as a going concern then we would be very interested in speaking to them and offering to work as a partnership with the community.

?If no-one comes forward we might have to do it ourselves.?

Mayor of Okehampton Christine Marsh said she supported the feeling of people in the town who wanted to see the building kept as a cinema.

Cllr Marsh said the cinema was a ?vital amenity? for the town, and if the highest bidder at the auction wanted to keep it as a cinema, she felt it would be well

supported.

She said some money would need to be spent on work to bring the cinema into line with modern regulations, such as providing disabled toilet facilities.

But she did fear a developer might ?take a flyer on it? and buy the site, knowing there would be money to be made on turning it into housing.

Some residents sounded a note of caution, warning there had been apathy towards the cinema among the people of the town in the past.

Cllr Marsh said the cinema had not always been busy, but before it closed it was being used more frequently.

The cinema also served many outlying villages as well as Okehampton itself, often showing films soon after their release. Without the facility, people would have to travel to Exeter, Plymouth or Tavistock to see the latest films.

Mr Wagstaff paid tribute to the previous owners of the cinema, who ran it very much as a labour of love.

?Two generations of the Pope family kept the cinema going for so many years. We must publicly thank them for that,? he said.