A CINEMA could be open in Kidderminster by February after a businessman came forward with vital start-up cash, the Shuttle/Times and News can exclusively reveal.

Plans have been submitted to open a three-screen theatre at the former Blunts shoe warehouse, opposite B and Q in Green Street, and could end years of wrangling to return movie magic to the town.

Simon Swaffield, who runs Swaffield Solicitors in Kidderminster, said he was determined to get the cinema up and running after a multiplex bid for the historic Piano Building fell through last year.

The majority of the £400,000 needed is coming from his own pocket and Mr Swaffield said he was aiming to get the cinema open by school half term in February. Up to six jobs are likely to be created.

He said: "After all the hoo-ha over bringing a cinema to Kidderminster I decided to do something myself. I am such a cinema fan but there is also an obvious gap in the marketplace.

"Everybody is saying let's do something - fine, let's do something."

The cinema would present the latest Hollywood blockbusters and movie classics in state-of-the-art sound and picture quality and seat more than 300 people, said the 38-year-old father of three.

Mr Swaffield, who moved to Kidderminster three years ago, added: "What we are trying to do is not equal Merry Hill or Worcester - we are trying to beat them."

The announcement comes more than 18 months after what looked like a done deal to bring a cinema to the Kidderminster fell through at the 11th hour.

Bulldozers were poised to demolish the Piano Building, now part of the £60 million Weavers Wharf shopping development, when civic leaders won the structure listed status, preventing its destruction.

A Shuttle/Times and News poll found 87 per cent of readers who responded wanted it knocked down to make way for a cinema.

A project for Crossley Park also fell by the wayside as councillors and developers struggled to bring the silver screen back to Kidderminster for the first time since the ABC in Oxford Street closed in 1982.

A planning application has been submitted to Wyre Forest District Council for the latest plan. It is likely to be put to councillors for a decision in December.

Mr Swaffield said: "One of the main reasons we have chosen Green Street is because it is close to the centre of Kidderminster, so if you get a bus from Stourport or Bewdley then you won't have far to walk.

"We are going to be throwing it open to people as to what films they want to watch. We can get hold of any film that people want, whether it is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Casablanca or Gone With The Wind, tell us and we will get it."