A temporary cinema could be opened at the former Picture House in Cannock until a £50 million redevelopment featuring an eight-screen venue can go ahead.

The developer behind the Avon Plaza scheme, off Avon Road and Walsall Road, says he is investigating the possibility of bringing the big screen back to the town until the stalled leisure and shopping complex scheme is ready to proceed.

The development has been hit by the recession, with banks reluctant to lend money for such projects, as well as the refusal of the owner of the former Padma restaurant building to sell up.

The Avon Plaza would bring a new cinema for the town which lost the Picture House in 2005. The two-screen cinema opened on April 6, 1914, but closed suddenly. Last month, The Prince of Wales Centre was successfully used as a temporary cinema for the first time, showing the latest Ice Age movie.

The developer behind the plaza, Fred Pritchard, has now revealed he is investigating the possibility of re-opening the two-screen Picture House until his project gets under way.

Mr Pritchard said: “A cinema is an important social gathering place for the community. We are extremely keen to develop a cinema for the people of Cannock and the wider district, rather than them having to travel to Walsall, Wolverhampton or Stafford.”