MOVIE fans could soon be able to enjoy a pint at the pictures after a York cinema launched a bid to sell alcohol.

Vue, at Clifton Moor, will find out next week whether it can provide booze alongside blockbusters after applying to change the terms of its licence.

The cinema’s owners are asking for permission to sell alcoholic drinks between 9am and 2.30am every day of the week, as well as adding an extra hour to the times it is allowed to show films, play music and stage plays on the day British Summer Time starts. A decision will be made at a City of York Council gambling and licensing hearing next Monday.

Vue Entertainment Limited said it would ensure alcohol could only be bought by movie-goers or those attending other events at the Stirling Road cinema.

In a report to the meeting, the council’s licensing manager John Lacy said that, if the alterations are agreed, alcohol sales would end at 2.30am or half-an-hour before the end of the last film of the night, depending on which was earlier.

He said each auditorium would be visited by a member of staff during films to monitor screens and the behaviour of customers.

He added: “These staff are issued with night-vision goggles or an equivalent. Save for pre-booked functions, alcohol sold in the auditoriums will be supplied only in plastic bottles or plastic glasses.”

The cinema would also have to ensure a Proof of Age scheme was in operation and staff selling alcohol would have to have received the necessary training.

Two letters raising concerns about the application were sent to the council. Rawcliffe Parish Council said it wanted the company to ensure people could not buy drinks and then leave the cinema and to prevent drink being passed to under-18s in the auditoriums. The parish council has since met the cinema’s managers to allay those concerns.

Former Skelton, Rawcliffe and Clifton Without councillor Richard Moore said he would be content with the proposals as long as a personal licence-holder, with responsibility for ensuring the terms of the licence are followed, is on the premises when alcohol is being served.

The City Screen picturehouse in the centre of York already has a licence, and serves alcohol in plastic containers to those watching films.

Top Ten films to enjoy with a drink

• The Beer Hunter
• Pale Ale Rider
• Bend it Like Becks-ham
• Landlord Of The Rings
• Bar Wars
• Cask-ablanca
• Stout Of Africa
• The Girl With The Copper Dragon Tattoo
• Withnail And IPA
• In The Wine Of Fire.