Lights, fights, action - a night out in Hereford’s cinema.

3:50pm Friday 8th August 2008

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HEREFORD’S Odeon cinema has this week been criticised by one city schoolgirl.

Wheelchair-bound Amy Clements, whose story was featured on the front page of this week’s Hereford Times, hit out at the Commercial Road cinema for its lack of disabled access.

The 15-year-old, who had to crawl up steps as other cinema-goers made their way to their seats around her, joins a long list of people in the county prepared to complain about the city’s main cinema.

I heard many of the usual gripes before I went to see the new Batman film at the Odeon.

One friend advised me to drive to Worcester and watch it at Vue while another warned that I would simply boil due to a lack of air conditioning.

With their words ringing in my ears, it was with some concern that I handed over my £7 to take my seat on Wednesday night.

But as I walked up the steps there was more than a hint of nostalgia as I remembered childhood days watching films in the cinema that seemed to me the very definition of modern back in the 1980s.

And the big silver screen was still there standing proudly inside the main auditorium that has far more character than one would find within new purpose-built multi-screen cinemas in bigger cities.

Leg room was tight to say the least but as the adverts started I wondered what my friends had been talking about as the view was fine.

But when the film got underway the first problem arose. One of the lights failed to dim and seemed to be forever shining towards the corner of my eye.

Half way through the film and it seemed as though the light was annoying others present.

An argument broke out and one man was punched before peacemakers moved in to stop the trouble.

The off-screen excitement was certainly needed as the leg room issue was now becoming more than irritating for this fidgety viewer.

Thankfully the film was entertaining enough but I certainly would not want to get stuck watching a two-hour mindnumber as comfort would certainly be more than an issue.

And as I left making my way down the cold smelly steps that Amy had climbed up I conceded that my friends really were right about the city's cinema.

Odeon, the UK’s largest cinema chain with revenues of £517million last year, could certainly do with making a few more investments in Hereford if their catchy claim about being "Fanatical about Film" is to hold true.