ACCRINGTON'S multiplex Cinema is making a profit for the first time, delighted bosses revealed today.

Managers at the four-screen Vue cinema said that their ref urbishment after buying the troubled town centre venue last summer has had customers flocking back.

Vue bought the cinema from Globe Enterprises - a regeneration vehicle part-owned by Hyndburn Council -- in a deal thought to have been around £1million last May.

The cinema opened in November 2002 but operator GSX Leisure, based in Somerset, put the business into liquidation in September 2003, claiming it could not afford the £150,000-a-year rent.

After being shut for a month, Globe re-opened it before finally selling it on to Vue, which owns the Warner Cinema chain and is now building a cinema in Blackburn.

When GSX pulled out, industry experts said it was proof there was no longer room for smaller cinemas thanks to large multiplexes on the outskirts of towns and cities.

Simon Tomlinson, regional manager for Vue, said: "For us, the Accrington cinema was something of an unknown because it was our first smaller cinema.

"But things have gone very well. We refitted it, putting in better soundproofing, projectors and sound systems, which improved the customer experience.

"I can say that it is in profit and that we are very pleased with the way it is going there."

Another of the benefits was that because Vue is a large firm, it can get buy copies of blockbuster films earlier - meaning people can see them in Accrington as soon as they are released.

Recent big movies included animated smash Robots and Will Smith comedy Hitch.

The new XXX film and a long awaited big screen version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy will also be showing soon.

Hyndburn Council leader, Peter Britcliffe, added: "We worked very hard to secure a cinema here and it is great news that it is doing well now."

'But things have gone very well. We refitted it, put in better soundproofing, projectors and sound , which improved the customer experience.

'It is in profit and we are very pleased with the way it is going.'

Another benefit is that because Vue is a large firm, it can buy copies of blockbuster films earlier , meaning people can see them in Accrington as soon as they are released. Recent big movies include animated hit Robots and Will Smith comedy Hitch.

The long awaited big screen version of The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy will also be showing soon.

Hyndburn Council leader, Peter Britcliffe, added: 'We worked very hard to secure a cinema here and it is great news it is doing well now.