The former manager of a Shipley cinema has been awarded more than £9,000 for being unfairly sacked - just two days after the cinema shut down.

Tens of thousands of pounds were sunk into Shipley Flicks - formerly the Unit 4 cinema - after it was bought by solicitors Mark Husband and Iqbal Singh Sekhon last August. But just seven months on the pair have closed the cinema, blaming a lack of customers and problems with getting new releases from film distributors for their decision to cease trading.

Shipley Flicks' three full-time and five part-time staff have lost their jobs. Its board of directors was due to be meeting today.

And yesterday an employment tribunal in Leeds ruled that Lesley Beanland, 41, of Baildon, had been unfairly dismissed from her job and that her employers were in breach of contract.

Marsek Limited, of Keighley, said it did not attend the hearing after taking advice from its liquidators.

Following the tribunal, Mrs Beanland, still a shareholder in the cinema, said the owners had claimed she failed to clear the building during a fire alarm.

And it has emerged that she might not receive full compensation because the cinema has closed down.

She said: "They sacked me for gross misconduct. There was a small fire at the cinema and they said I didn't handle it properly. But that was totally wrong, they just wanted me out.

"I think I have been treated terribly by Marsek. I loved my cinema and they just ruined it."

She added: "I might have won at the tribunal but I have lost my cinema and I've lost my job.

"It's unlikely I'll get my money now. But I'm pleased with today's results because I've cleared my name."

After the hearing, Marsek's Mark Husband said: "We felt badly let down by Lesley."

He said before the company took over, the cinema was only taking about £100 a week but this had increased to an average of £1,500 a week under their ownership. And he refuted allegations that staff were not informed of the intention to close on the Sunday.

He added: "When we took over the cinema, it was renowned for being a fleapit. You couldn't take a step without your feet sticking to the floor and not a single customer will dispute this. We gutted the place and installed new carpet throughout and fully redecorated the building."

Solicitor Steve Collins, representing Mrs Beanland, said it was unlikely that she would ever receive the full £9,017 award because Shipley Flicks had closed. He said it was likely that she would receive £3,596 from the Government redundancy fund. Mr Husband said that was a matter for the liquidators to decide.

About the closure of the cinema, he added: "I'm tremendously disappointed - the business simply wasn't commercially viable.

"As directors we did all that we could by investing our own cash and not taking any wages but despite the improvements to the property the public didn't attend in sufficient numbers to keep the cinema open.

"I think it's a small part of a sad but very common trend of small, convenient local facilities being closed in favour of out-of-town developments such as multiplex cinemas.

"If people are upset they should ask themselves how often they came to the cinema or chose to go to a multiplex instead.''

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