AN ICONIC cinema which entertained the people of south Manchester for more than eighty years is to be demolished.

The Cine City in Withington closed seven years ago and now scaffolding has been put up outside the building in preparation of it being bulldozed.

It was once considered one of the most iconic buildings in Manchester, was home to only the third cinema to open in Britain.

The building will make way for a new apartment building with ground floor shop.

Residents and film fans say they are sad to see the building go.

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Eddy Rhead, an architectural historian and photography tutor, said: "It's sad to see it go as it was an important cultural and social icon for Withington.

"As a building, it wasn't especially architecturally interesting and it was quite dilapidated. But it was very old and historically important as being one of the longest running cinemas in Britain."

Roger Smith, chairman of Withington Civic Society, said: "It's a shame it's going as it was one of the oldest operating cinemas in Britain and a feature of Withington.

"It wasn't actually condemned by the dangerous buildings inspector, but it is falling down so it might be better to have something new in the area."

The cinema was opened in 1912 as The Scala. It later became Cine City and continued to show films until July 2001.

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