THE Oxford Mail's Bill Heine has led tributes to the owner of Oxford's last independent cinema which he, too, once ran.

Mr Heine saw Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP) owner Becky Hallsmith on Wednesday, hours before she died yesterday morning.

Like Mr Heine, Ms Hallsmith, 60, had been getting treatment for cancer at Oxford's Churchill Hospital, where the two recently rekindled their friendship.

Inspired by her courage, Mr Heine wrote his weekly Oxford Mail article (printed on page 12 today) all about his friend, and had been planning to visit her again yesterday, only to discover she passed away hours after his last visit.

Writing in his column, he described Ms Hallsmith as a 'free spirit' who could always come up with reasons to be hopeful.

However he also said that by his last visit, Ms Hallsmith confided that she was tired of fighting and was 'ready to die'.

Speaking to the Mail yesterday Mr Heine said: "When I was sat with her on Wednesday, one of her staff members came to visit and I said to her 'Becky that was always one of your strengths: you were able to attract people who shared your sense of passion and delight with cinema, and by having people with those kind of dedications on board you made people who were strangers into friends'."

Asked about her tenure at the cinema which he co-owned and ran from 1976 until 1994 as the Penultimate Picture Palace, Mr Heine added: "I thought she was spot-on and in tune with the founding energy and emphasis of the cinema."

Ms Hallsmith, an East Oxford resident and regular at the UPP for years, bought the Cowley Road cinema on what she said was a 'spur of the moment' impulse in 2011.

Previous owners Philippa Farrow and Jane Derricott, who bought it in 2009, decided to sell up because they said it had left them feeling exhausted.

Ms Farrow, who now owns the White Rabbit pub off Gloucester Green, said yesterday: "Becky was an absolute delight to transfer the cinema to because it was her whole life.

"She was prepared to invest virtually everything, it was her baby and what she did was amazing.

"We were just caretakers – she was a true owner-believer."

In total Ms Hallsmith oversaw £100,000 worth of renovations at the 105-seat cinema.

Her makeover, which began with sprucing up the facade, included installing 100 new seats costing £30,000, which was made possible after a fundraising drive supported by 240 people.

She also got rid of damp and installed a new ventilation system, sound system, movie screen and digital projector at the Grade II-listed building.

In 2013, the cinema was given an Oxford Preservation Award for the restoration and lighting of the facade.

The work paid off and, between 2011 and 2015, visitors numbers rocketed from 22,000 to 34,000.

The following year she told the Oxford Mail: "It's been a lot of fun and very rewarding. I think the building has a soul – there is something about it. I feel love for it."

Film critic and former Oxford Mail columnist James Luxford said yesterday: "My abiding memory of Becky will always be her wide smile and relentless enthusiasm for cinema. I have happy memories of poring over festival programmes and release schedules, talking about films we were excited about. I never heard her talk about pounds and pence when it came to the UPP, just how to offer the best films and the best experience for the people of Oxford. Oxford is a poorer place without her."

The UPP said Ms Hallsmith passed away peacefully at the Churchill surrounded by friends and family.

Staff said her passion for film and her determination as a businesswoman 'made the UPP what it is today'.

The management team also revealed that Ms Hall ensured before her death that the future of the business was safe and would carry on 'as normal'.

They added: "She will be greatly missed by all the staff, volunteers, and customers who knew her well."