Proposals to partially convert an iconic art deco cinema into a church have been rejected by Luton Borough Council.
It had received a planning application to refurbish the front section of the ABC cinema in George Street, which would have been sublet to a Pentecostal church.
Applicants Fenton Property Management indicated that the old cinema’s screens would have been left untouched and sealed off from the rest of the building.
A council spokesperson said: ‘It is considered that the granting of a temporary consent for use of the site for a place of worship would not facilitate the redevelopment of this prominent site within the central shopping area as the predominant activities of a use of this kind would take place outside the core shopping and leisure times and therefore it fails to contribute to the regeneration of the town centre in the short term.’
