THE conversion of an old cinema in Bromyard is set to be completed by August, providing the town with a new venue for social and commercial events.

The Plaza Cinema ran from its conversion into a cinema in 1949 until 1979, when the manager Michael Blakemore found it was no longer commercially viable.

After use as a nightclub and various other incarnations, it fell into disrepair.

That is until John and Sylvia Silver, owners of the nearby Falcon Hotel, stepped in.

Their plans to renovate the building are set to be confirmed by Herefordshire Council in the next couple of weeks and building work is already well under way.

Mr Silver said: "The completed building will include two conference rooms and a level floor auditorium and will be used for medieval banquets, youth theatre, commercial conferences and many other uses.

"The roof is already finished and is testament to the great job the builders are doing."

The next challenge for the ambitious husband and wife team is to strike a balance between cladding the interior walls and keeping the 1940s brickwork, as well as solving a damp problem caused by work to the cinema 60 years ago.

But they remain confident any issues will be sorted quickly and the building will be completed on schedule.