A COUNCIL architect has asked to meet the management of York Odeon after tiles were removed from the listed building's auditorium without consent.

City of York Council made inquiries after being told by a member of the public that acoustic tiles had been taken off walls near audience seats.

Conservation architect Hilary Roome said the cinema should have discussed the matter with the council and applied for consent before removing the tiles.

However, she understood they had been removed because they were made of composite material containing asbestos, and health and safety concerns had been raised.

She said she was seeking a meeting with the management to discuss their replacement with suitably decorative tiles.

An Odeon spokeswoman said that management at the York Odeon recently identified a section of modern tiling within the cinema that posed a potential health and safety issue.

"The safety of Odeon's staff and customers is of the highest priority, so the tiles were removed," she said.

The Evening Press campaign to save the Odeon from possible closure is continuing to win support from across North Yorkshire - and even from Australia.

Rod Howell, a former resident of New Earswick who now lives in Sydney, contacted the paper to say: "I have many fond memories of the Odeon Cinema back in the 1960s. I am truly amazed that closure of this fine old building is even contemplated."

He said Odeon's owners should do the cinema, the city and future generations a favour and carry out a refurbishment.

Updated: 10:33 Friday, February 20, 2004