THE last picture show will soon be screened at one of only two remaining private cinemas in Stockport.

A planning application has been submitted to Stockport Council to convert the Savoy Cinema in Heaton Moor into a pub with a new frontage and external staircase.

Chinese businesswoman Lisa Fan, who has owned the Savoy for the past 12 years, admitted sharply falling attendances, particularly during the recent heatwave, and rising costs had forced her to sell up, resulting in a planning application to convert the building in to a pub.

"We really can't keep it going as a cinema any longer, although I really wanted to. The costs of running the Savoy have risen by 50 to 60 per cent over the past six months and the attendances have fallen drastically recently," she told the Stockport Express.

Mrs Fan said that last week there were only four people in for one performance and five for another. "There is no way we can survive with so few people attending," she added.

"To me, it is very sad. The very hot weather recently has made the situation worse and rising costs have not helped either. So there is no way we can keep going," she said.

Mrs Fan explained that costs such as fuel bills, particularly to run high voltage projectors, and insurance were constantly rising. And there were also problems with getting films from the distributors who sometimes expected her to hire one film for four weeks which was impossible in a cinema with just one screen.

She said the Savoy would close if, and when, planning permission was given to applicants the Barracuda Group Limited, for a pub on the cinema site, which the application states would create 35 full and part-time jobs.

She added its closure would leave only one independent cinema in the Stockport area, in Marple.

A council spokesman said the application would be considered by the Four Heatons Area Committee on September 13, if possible, or October 4, if not, after representations from the public about it have been received.