PUPILS who study and board near York's Odeon Cinema have been on a mission to save it from closure.

Students at The Mount School have collected 260 signatures for our campaign to retain the historic picture house in Blossom Street, which is just a few hundred yards from their school.

Sixth former Abi Hope-Urwin said: "Generations of boarding and day pupils at the school have enjoyed watching films at the cinema, and we would hate to see it close because the managing company thought there was insufficient local interest in the cinema.

"In this school alone, there are former pupils who remember, as young boarders, being taken to the Odeon as a weekend treat, a staff member whose father carried out much of the carpentry work when the Odeon was built, and staff who watched their earliest films there.

"If the cinema is closed groups of boarders would be particularly affected, as they would need coach transport to get to the out-of-town cinema."

Updated: 11:00 Thursday, February 12, 2004