Under-threat cinema listed as asset of community value

One of London's astir celebrated autarkic cinemas has been listed arsenic an plus of assemblage worth (ACV).

The Prince Charles Cinema, successful Leicester Square, announced the quality that Westminster City Council had bestowed the rubric months aft it revealed concerns astir its aboriginal arsenic a effect of its landlord seeking to enforce caller terms.

The cinema's existent lease is owed to expire successful September and the building's proprietor wants to rise the rent. The listing provides the section assemblage with the close to effort to rise funds and bid for the gathering first if it is enactment up for sale.

The cinema described the designation arsenic "a immense honour", but added "the combat continues to unafraid a agelong word lease".

If a gathering is listed arsenic an ACV, its proprietor indispensable notify the assembly if it is enactment up for sale. A six-month moratorium connected the merchantability tin past beryllium invoked by the section assemblage to springiness them the accidental to rise concern and marque a bid to bargain it connected the unfastened market.

However, it does not necessitate a landowner to merchantability their spot to a assemblage radical and does not mean a landowner has to proceed immoderate existing lease.

In a connection astir the listing, the cinema said: "Though this designation is simply a immense honour, the combat continues to unafraid a agelong word lease that volition alteration america to put successful our aboriginal improvement and proceed to bring the champion of what we bash to Leicester Place.

"We judge that immoderate genuinely large venue is built connected the shoulders of those who enactment wrong and those who enactment it – and we couldn't person asked for a much passionate and vocal level of enactment from the galore thousands of you who signed the petition, bought tickets, became members oregon simply conscionable kept coming done our doors.

"Thank you to each 1 of you who took a infinitesimal to enactment our cause."

More than 160,000 radical person signed a petition to prevention the venue.

Paul Thomas Anderson, the manager of Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood and Inherent Vice, has antecedently spoken up for the Leicester Square cinema, which helium described arsenic "like tuning into your favourite vigor station".

Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs manager Quentin Tarantino said it was "everything an autarkic movie theatre should be", adding that "for lovers of prime films, this is Mecca".

The venue, 1 of the past remaining autarkic cinemas successful cardinal London, has accused the landlord, Zedwell LSQ, of trying to "bully" the concern retired of the building.

Criterion Capital, Zedwell LSQ's genitor company, said the presumption of a caller lease were modular signifier and not unreasonable.