EAST Lancashire cinemas enjoyed one of their busiest ever days as movie lovers flocked to the new Harry Potter film.

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Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley cinemas offered an unprecedented number of screenings, with up to 22 showings today.

And customers left happy with almost everyone giving Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the thumbs up.

The keenest fans were those who attended East Lancashire's Potter premiere at 9am at Blackburn's Vue Cinema.

At Blackburn’s Vue cinema, 22-year-old Leah Miller said: “I just couldn’t wait.

"We have actually booked the day off work, sad I know! We’ve been waiting ages for this though.”

Darwen woman Deborah Johnson, 50 said: “I’m a big fan and have really been looking forward to this. I couldn’t wait a moment longer.”

Husband Steve, 53, added: “I’ve read all the books and I don’t like the films as much but still really looking forward to it.”

Burnley's Apollo Cinema is putting on 126 screenings over the next seven days, beating its previous record of 86 for 1997's Titanic.

The cinema said up to 8,000 people had booked advance tickets for shows online for the first week.

One cinemagoer, 26-year-old Rebecca Hargreaves, from Burnley, said: “I booked online because I was scared I wouldn’t get a ticket.

“I also came during the day so it would be a little bit quieter. I think it’s great they’re doing so many screenings.”

Andrew Smith, general manager at Apollo Cinema, said: “Advance bookings for the first day alone were 2,000 and that isn’t counting people who just walked in to buy their ticket.

“People started to book three weeks in advance.

“The morning began quite steady with bookings seeing things get very busy from 4pm onwards.

“This is why we’ve put on so many showings.”

Apollo Cinemas also added to the fun by using ‘Howler’ attendants’ to keep noisy cinema-goers in check.

Dressed in red, they were there to give disruptive members a shrill telling off like the one delivered to Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The much-anticipated finale was also said to live up to the hype by people leaving the cinema.

In Blackburn, one fan Naeem Mohammed said: “It was very good - nine out of ten.

"It was different to the other Harry Potter films I thought, more grown up.”

22-year-old Nick Crawshaw said: “It was very good and if you’ve read the book you’ll enjoy it more because it’s more true to the story than the other films.

"People say it’s on for a long time but it’s entertaining throughout.”