SWINDON’S third cinema will not only draw the crowds but will transform the night-time economy, according to the manager of Cineworld at Shaw Ridge and senior politicians.

Cineworld has been confirmed as the operator for the all-digital cinema which will form part of the £50m leisure complex to be built at Regent Circus on the former Swindon College site.

The project, which will start this month with the demolition of the old college building, will also include a 52,000sq ft Morrisons superstore, eight restaurants and bars, a 30,000sq ft six-screen cinema and a 450-space car park.

When it opens within two years, this will be Swindon’s third cinema after Cineworld at Shaw Ridge, which has seven screens, and Empire Cinemas, at Greenbridge, which has 12 screens and was also previously a Cineworld.

Swindon’s last town centre cinema, which opened as the Savoy, in Regent Street, in 1937, closed in 1991 as the Cannon, when the new Metro Goldwyn Mayer multiplex, later Virgin and now Cineworld, opened at Shaw Ridge.

However, John Keil, the manager of Cineworld at Shaw Ridge, who used to manage the Cannon, said Swindon could support a third cinema because it would attract a different customer base, and would only have a marginal effect on the existing two.

He said: “I would have thought the company has done their homework and there’s no reason to think Swindon cannot support a third cinema.

“It’s the only place in the area that a third plex would work because it’s in the centre of town. We cannot put another one on the outskirts of Swindon, that would be ludicrous, but where it’s going in the centre, that would work.

“I think there are audience bases both for Greenbridge and Shaw Ridge, so I don’t think it would affect it very much.”

Garry Perkins, Swindon Council’s deputy leader, who is also responsible for regeneration, agreed a third cinema was needed, adding there were many potential customers in the town centre, Old Town and Eastcott.

He said: “There’s bound to be some competition but you’ve got one in West Swindon and West Swindon is quite a large catchment area, you’ve got one in the east, so it seems natural you would have one in the middle.

“There’s always new supermarkets being built and they always seem to keep in business, and with a growing town there’s a need. People will not build unless there’s a need because after all there’s millions of investment going in.”

Coun Perkins said the town centre cinema would encourage shops to open later to cater for people who work in the day, and would also entice quality restaurants to move in, making the town more of an evening leisure destination.

Justin Tomlinson, Swindon North MP, who is also vice chairman of the all-party Parliamentary group for town centres, added: “Swindon is a fast-growing town and Swindon is a regional destination for leisure facilities, which includes the cinema.

“We attract not just customers from Swindon but places such as Chippenham and Cricklade, the surrounding areas. Because we have 300,000 people within 20 minutes of the town centre and as the town is growing, we have the potential to sustain three cinemas.”

Coun Rod Bluh, the leader of Swindon Council, said a cinema would attract a broader mix of generations to the town centre, rather than just younger drinkers, helping to reduce anti-social behaviour.

He said: “The ambition of improving the night-time economy and bringing the town centre alive in the evening has always been very fundamental to the regeneration plan.

“Because at the moment, if you are over the age of 25, you are unlikely to come into the town centre at night, and that’s not good for a town centre.

“Bringing a cinema into the town centre is a important part of the drive to develop a night-time economy which is not based on drinking and a younger age of customers.”