Bedford's Vue plans to re-open next month

The announcement comes after all of the chain's screens have been closed for months during the coronavirus crisis.

The chain is aiming to have cinemas operational again from Friday, July 10.

Tim Richards, Founder and Chief Executive of Vue International said: ”We are waiting to see the specific advice from government, but we are ready and we welcome the reopening of cinemas.

"We will start reopening from 10th July. After a record 2019, we know how important the big screen experience is to people, and now more so than ever.

"We are confident we can look after our staff and our customers with enhanced protocols.

"By the time we reopen in the UK our methods will have been responsibly and robustly deployed in the real world.

"We have learned how to do this from our operations in Taiwan where we never closed and have successfully operated through pandemics such as SARS in the past; and from our sites in Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Poland and Lithuania where we have recently and successfully reopened to the public.

"We know from independent academic research that cinema going has a positive impact on mental wellbeing and now it is more important than ever to make that experience available to people.”