THE force looks set to be with us 24 hours a day after Cinema bosses in Preston were given permission to open round the clock for the launch of the new Star Wars blockbuster movie.

When Star Wars: The Phantom Menace hits the silver screen this side of the Atlantic on July 17, Warner Cinemas, in the Capitol Centre, Walton-le-Dale, won't shut for 100 hours in a bid to give all fans a chance to it soon after its release.

The multiplex has been granted a temporary licence from South Ribble Borough Council to open for 24 hours when the Star Wars prequel opens. Manager of the eight-screen cinema Karen Hoskinson is expecting the place to be packed.

She said: "We have already had a lot of people ringing up asking to book tickets for the first showing and we are keeping a list for when we get the times we can screen the films.

"We have been given permission to open 24 hours a day for this one and we are sure it will be full for the first few days.

"We will run screenings from when we open through until about 7.30am, and start showing again at around 10.30am so there will always be customers in the building.

"This is the first time we have done something like this but this is a film which is going to be huge."

Their extended licence will run from midnight on Wednesday, July 14 at midnight until 3am on Monday, July 19.

And it isn't only the cinema which is preparing for a midnight opening to celebrate the launch of Star Wars - so is a local toy shop!

Toys R Us, on the Deepdale Retail Park, is preparing to welcome Star Wars fans from galaxies far, far away - or from the North West at least - desperate to get their hands on the new batch of Star Wars toys.

Managers at the shop are preparing to open at midnight on Thursday, June 17 - giving fans of the film the chance to buy the new merchandise the minute it goes on sale.

Manager Jim Broadbent is pictured with some of the Star Wars memorabilia on sale.

Toy industry experts are already predicting a huge demand for Star Wars toys, with long queues expected outside stores like Toys R Us.

Toys R Us currently has a small selection of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace stock on sale, but the exact details of what will be included in the huge range of merchandise to be released next month is still a closely guarded secret.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.