SWINDON’S cinemas face a potential loss of custom after mobile phone company EE announced plans to end its Orange Wednesday offer.

The popular promotion, which has been going for more than 10 years, entitled customers to two cinema tickets for the price of one on Wednesdays.

The company said that Orange Wednesdays is due to end on February 25.

“Orange Wednesdays launched over a decade ago and at its peak was a massive success and an iconic promotion,” an EE spokesman said.

“After 10 great years our brand has changed and our customers’ viewing habits have also evolved so it’s time to move on.

“That’s why the final credits will roll for Orange Wednesdays at the end of February. We’re working on new customer entertainment rewards and we’ll provide more details soon.”

There are two cinemas in Swindon; Cineworld at the Shaw Ridge Leisure Park and the Empire at the Greenbridge Leisure Park.

The news will undoubtedly come as a blow to the new six-screen Cineworld due to open in Regent Circus in February.

Shelagh Gough, Swindon Film Society secretary, feels that the end of this promotion may see more people attend local film groups rather than multiplexes.

She said: “Last week, I took my granddaughter to see Paddington in London and it was extremely expensive for a film which is an hour-and-a-half long. Given that it is only new there was barely anyone at the showing, which suggests people are being put off by prices.

“It is going to be really interesting to see how cinemas go in the coming years, as it is very costly to go. It costs a lot of money to take a small family to the cinema. It is a sign of the times that I think people are falling out of love with the glitz and the glamour of the cinema and just want to see a good film at a reasonable price.

“We want to raise the profile of the society as I think the public would be blown away by our programme. We show mostly foreign films, which give a great insight to what is going on around the world.”

Membership to Swindon FIlm Society, which holds screenings at the Arts Centre in Old Town, costs £50 and covers 16 films. An alternative membership costs £2 a year, with a discount available on the admission of each film screening that is attended.

For more information about the group, visit www.swindonfilm.org.uk