HOLLYWOOD has come to Wantage with the opening of a cinema for young people.

The cinema is thrilling movie fans who can enjoy freshly popped popcorn while sitting on large beanbags at the Sweatbox, on the King Alfred School east site, in Springfield Road.

Teenagers from the centre successfully applied for £7,600 funding from Oxfordshire County Council to pay for it.

Youngsters from eight to 18-years-old can enjoy the facilities, which include a projector, cinema quality sound system and a Blu-ray player.

Shows take place on Tuesdays between 7.30pm and 10pm.

It is the only place youngsters can watch films on the big screen since Wantage’s cinema closed in 2005.

Ester Kincova, 16, of Charlton Road, Wantage, said: “It’s a fantastic resource. Now we don’t have to travel so far to see movies.

“We have a vote on what everyone wants to see so it’s very fair.”

Garry Kingett, area youth worker, said: “We’re also getting the kids to make their own films and we’ll show them at the cinema as well.

“The films have to be available in the shops, so they won’t be the latest blockbusters but the kids seem to be enjoying them.”

No charge is made for admission, although it costs £1 to rent a beanbag for the evening, plus a returnable £1 deposit.