A FORMER Abingdon councillor has insisted the scrapped scheme to turn the town's Guildhall into a cinema was – and still is – viable.

Iain Littlejohn has urged Abingdon Town Council to revisit the plan following the failure of a subsequent scheme to fit it with a cafe and pop-up screening room.

Mr Littlejohn headed the council's Guildhall committee when it first floated the £3.5m cinema plan in 2013, and said he was 'frustrated' when it was pulled two years later.

He claimed councillors had 'missed an opportunity', calling on them re-approach cinema companies that initially expressed interest in the Abbey Close site.

He said: "The cinema project was viable. I feel they have made the wrong decision and haven't interpreted the commercial bids properly. I believe this would be a huge asset and I am extremely disappointed that they have missed this opportunity to do something fantastic for the town.

"I call upon the councillors to revisit discussion with one or more of the vendors and look at whether a different deal can be done."

By the time crucial decisions were made about the cinema plan, Mr Littlejohn was no longer a councillor and could not take part in discussions.

He claimed the council knew that one bid in particular would reap 'significant financial advantage', although names of cinemas that bid for the project have never been publicised due to commercial sensitivity.

When asked if the council would reinvestigate the cinema scheme, its leader Mike Badcock said: "The answer is no."

He insisted any thought that the cinema scheme might have been viable was dispelled after tenders came back in, adding: "The real price of it was simply not affordable.

"The decision has been made and it has been made for very, very good reasons. It's very easy to spend somebody else's money but the amount it would cost to put a cinema in is enormous. We would have had to borrow a 40-year loan. I don't think Mr Littlejohn has the right to put his personal views onto the children of Abingdon who would end up having to pay for it [as future taxpayers]."

Mr Littlejohn said he felt 'very let-down' by the project's failure.

He said: "I put three and a half years into the plan and strongly believed in it, but unfortunately it's fallen by the wayside. Perhaps they haven't got the humility to go back and approach those people."

The former councillor also said he was 'not surprised' that the subsequent cafe plan also failed, adding: "There is nothing inherent about the nature of the building that means you couldn't do something. But the business case was a little fanciful."

Drayton resident Brian Eastoe has also been lobbying the council to revisit the cinema plan.

The 82-year-old, who struck commercial deals throughout his career in the oil industry, said: "In the past couple of years the population of Abingdon and surrounding villages has increased by thousands. What might have been borderline [to make the plan viable] then, won't necessary be now.

"This cinema is absolutely essential and it's the only suitable site available in the town centre. The council has really got to listen to people. It's a key location and I'm very confident that a cinema could be persuaded to take it on. They ought to renegotiate.

"There is a real lack of leisure facilities in the town. Cinemas are very popular and very profitable."

Mr Eastoe said he has even approached the council offering his expertise for free, adding: "They need someone to ask consultants specific questions."

The council is working on restoring the historical part of Guildhall and Mr Badcock said he is 'still looking at other uses' for the Abbey Hall, after tenders exceeded the budget by almost £1m.