Royston's independent cinema has reopened with Oscar-winners and family favourites lighting up the big screen.

Local cinema Royston Picture Palace flung open its doors once again last weekend, having spent the majority of the last 14 months closed due to lockdown restrictions.

There was a happy, excited atmosphere as staff and volunteers welcomed audiences for socially-distanced screenings of Oscar-winning movie Nomadland and family animation Wolfwalkers.

COVID-19 safety measures remain in place at the Melbourn Street venue and include a significantly reduced auditorium capacity to allow socially distanced spacing between booking groups, compulsory mask-wearing, and temperature checks for all staff, volunteers and customers on arrival.

Royston Picture Palace’s business manager Jenny Hemsley said: “Everyone at the cinema is so pleased to be able to open our doors once again, and it was fantastic to see such a great turnout for our reopening night.

"We've been working hard lining up some brilliant film content that customers can enjoy in the safest way possible, and look forward to seeing more customers back soon.”

Nomadland (12A) returns on Friday, June 11 as part of a varied programme of upcoming films including Minari (12A), Sound of Metal (15), Six Minutes to Midnight (12A), Godzilla vs Kong (12A) and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (U).

Films are currently showing on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons, with hopes to increase to five screenings a week in the coming months.

Tickets are on sale now and are available to purchase in advance only – either online or at Royston Town Hall.

More information and the full programme can be found at www.roystonpicturepalace.org.uk

Despite the challenging environment, Royston Picture Palace organisers are keeping ticket and refreshment prices low for the benefit of the whole community.

To stay up to date on upcoming films and cinema news, customers should sign up to Royston Picture Palace’s weekly emails and follow the cinema on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

More safety information can be found on the cinema’s COVID-19 FAQ webpage.