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Final credits roll at city cinema

Campaigners staged a sit-in at the cinema

The last film was shown at the ABC in Whiteladies Road on Sunday evening.

Campaigners say they will carry on fighting for the building to have a future as a picture house.

The building has been put up for sale, with plans in place to turn it into a health club.

A clause in the sale documents says it can no longer be used as a cinema, but the campaigners hope to have the ban removed.

They say a local person is prepared to buy it and run it as a cinema.

Dozens of campaigners marked the cinema's 80th anniversary last month by staging a brief sit-in at the end of the Harry Potter film.

The ABC was the city's oldest purpose-built cinema.

There are now six cinemas in the Bristol area, including a large multi-screen complex near Temple Meads station.

The Odeon group, which owns the ABC, is in the running to manage a new multiplex planned for the city docks area.

In January, Bristol City Council is due to consider granting consent for alterations to the building, which is listed as having historical or architectural interest.

The campaigners hope consent will be refused.