Royston Picture Palace will stay open until October after an agreement was reached to save the cinema, but its long-term future remains uncertain.

A petition to keep the non-profit community cinema from closing was launched last month after it was announced that the last day of screening would be May 28, with managing organisation Saffron Screen pulling out due to declining ticket sales.

Back in May, Lynn Ross, a spokeswoman for Royston Picture Palace volunteers, said: "Saffron Screen, which has managed Royston Picture Palace for over three years, is withdrawing due to the slipping sales of cinema viewing particularly since the pandemic and can no longer subsidise us.

"The petition is a way of getting the public to support the town councillors in finding a solution."

The petiton paid off, as a spokeswoman for Royston Town Council confirmed to the Crow that the Picture Palace would stay open until October 15 this year.

"Royston Town Council is pleased to announce an agreement has been reached for films to continue being screened at Royston Picture Palace until Sunday, October 15," she said. 

"The agreement has been put in place in conjunction with our partners at Royston First BID, the duty managers, cinema volunteers and Saffron Screen.

"This has been made possible thanks to a collaborative approach from all parties and we would like to thank all involved.

"We hope to release dates for when screenings will restart as soon as possible."

But, the long-term future of the venue is still uncertain, with the statement confirming that attention will now turn to "finding a sustainable solution".

"Now that the agreement is in place our working party will turn its attention to finding a sustainable long term solution for the cinema," it read.

"We will soon start reaching out to additional parties who have offered help and support."