BOSSES at Blackburn's five-screen cinema have admitted they are unsure how long they will remain open when a 10 screen multiplex opens nearby.

Staff at the Apollo cinema in King William Street have been told that their venue will be kept under review by bosses at the Preston-based company.

A 10-screen multiplex operated by rival Vue is due to open in Blackburn town centre later this month.

Apollo had originally hoped to open a rival multiplex closer to the town centre but was forced to abandon the council-approved plans after councillors refused to sell land off Penny Street to them.

Instead, the land -- which the council said it had earmarked for housing -- remains derelict.

Gerry Tait, operations director at Apollo, said the cinema would be open for the launch of Harry Potter's latest film on November 18 -- the same day the £30million Vue multiplex opens.

He added: "We have spoken to the staff to tell them that we will just be watching to see how things go.

"If it was down to the staff, we'd be open for another 20 years, but we have to be realistic.

"This is a small town and I am not sure whether it can sustain two cinemas. We will be reviewing things week-by-week just to see how it goes.

"The cinema in Blackburn is our oldest, and it makes a reasonable profit, but we don't know what will happen once the new open arrives.

"It could be that some people prefer our cinema because of its location in the town centre, we don't know, but we are having to be realistic and it will be tough to compete.

"We'd have liked to have moved to a new site with a new building, but the council didn't allow that to happen. That would have secured our future in the town."