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Future of Odeon cinema in Canterbury 'under review' as it continues role as Covid vaccination centre

12:02, 11 June 2021

updated: 15:20, 11 June 2021

The future of Canterbury's biggest cinema is currently "under review" as its doors continue to remain shut.

The Odeon, on the corner of New Dover Road, has been closed since lockdown struck last year.

Odeon cinema in Canterbury
Odeon cinema in Canterbury

Curzon is the only cinema currently operating in the city, and with it being at the higher-end of the market, those wanting to pay less to watch a film are having to head out of the district.

Like almost all other cinemas in the country, Odeon could have reopened on May 17 when the UK took another step out of lockdown.

Yet the site has continued to be used as a Covid-19 vaccination centre - and is primed to carry on acting as a jab site for the foreseeable future.

A spokesman for Odeon said: “There are a very small number of cinemas which we have not yet reopened, and this includes Canterbury.

"We will keep this under review and look forward to reopening here as soon as we are able.”

The cinema is currently a Covid jab site
The cinema is currently a Covid jab site

Like Canterbury's cinema, the Odeon in Maidstone was also being used as a vaccination centre in the early stages of this year.

But the hub relocated last month to enable the site to reopen as a cinema. It is unclear why that same process has not been carried in Canterbury.

Elsewhere in the country, the Odeon in Nuneaton has been split in half, with one half offering protective shots and the other reopening as a picture house.

A vaccine centre at Aylesbury's Odeon has also been relocated elsewhere to allow for the cinema to reopen.

A second Curzon is set to open this autumn on the eastern side of the city at The Riverside complex.

A vaccine hub is still running at the city's Odeon
A vaccine hub is still running at the city's Odeon

The five-screen venue will become the biggest in Canterbury.

Read more: All the latest news from Canterbury

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