Odeon is closing five UK cinemas today - see which sites are shutting
Odeon is to close five of its UK cinemas today (June 5) in "disappointing" news for film fans.
The cinema chain apologised to customers and confirmed "the difficult decision" was made following an "assessment of all available options".
Odeon - which had 116 branches before the closures today - said it is hoping to redeploy workers at affected sites to other branches.
The following cinemas are closing today:
Oxford Magdalen Street
People are only just discovering what Odeon actually means
Blackpool
Weston-super-mare
Ayrshire
Banbury
Odeon said in a statement: “We can confirm that, following a thorough assessment of all available options we have made the very difficult decision to close a small number of our cinemas.
"We know this will be disappointing news for our guests and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.
"We would like to thank them for their choosing Odeon to enjoy the magic of cinema.
"Looking after our people is our number one priority and we are looking to secure jobs for as many team members as possible in one of our 116 other cinemas across the UK and Ireland.”
The news comes after rival Cineworld announced it is dropping plans to sell its UK, Irish, and US businesses.
The global cinema chain, which runs 750 sites globally from brands including Regal, Cinema City, Picturehouse and Planet, filed for bankruptcy in the US last year.
Odeon to shut five cinemas next month - see if your local screen is closing
However, the group said it will now try to raise $2.3billion (£1.8billion) in new funding as part of a plan to exit bankruptcy.
Cineworld announced a debt restructuring plan with its lenders which it hopes will reduce its debt pile by $4.5billion.
To do this, the cinema chain will borrow an additional $1.46billion (£1.2billion) in new credit, and provide $800million (£651 million) of equity to its lenders.
Cineworld says it will aim to have the restructure completed during the first half of this year.
When it filed for Bankruptcy in September, Cineworld had debts of around $8.8billion.
Cinema chains were hard hit after their businesses were forced to close for months at a time during the coronavirus pandemic.
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