The boss of Basildon's only remaining cinema today said the doomed Robins complex could have survived as its neighbour.

UCI manager Ian Duffield said he was upset to hear the final curtain has come down on the three-screen town centre cinema.

However, he firmly believes UCI, on Festival Leisure Park, was not in direct competition with the venue.

He said: "They were in a different market to UCI. They were in quite a good location in the centre of town and their prices were far lower than ours. I really think more could have been done to keep it afloat."

A price war was launched when UCI arrived on the scene 18 months ago. Robins drop its ticket prices to £1.99 - as opposed to UCI's £5.50.

Mr Duffield said: "It is always a shame when a cinema closes, especially when 15 people are now out of work. I always thought Robins would survive.

"Robins would have been better off trying to compete with us without actually attempting to compete directly. They were showing the same films as us but at a slashed price. That did not work because people often prefer to come here for the bigger screens."

The cinema, in Great Oaks, Basildon, served its last tub of popcorn on Thursday after announcing its closure earlier in the day.

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