AFTER years of false hopes and disappointments Abergavenny is finally to have its long-awaited cinema.

Peter and Irene Davies, owners of the successful Coliseum Cinema in Brecon and the Palace Cinema in Haverfordwest have exclusively revealed to The Chronicle this week that they have purchased the former Drill Hall building in Baker Street and plan to open it as a two screen cinema.

The couple have been at the forefront of the drive to bring a cinema to Abergavenny for many years and had previously attempted to purchase and convert the former Baptist chapel in Market Street but the endeavour failed when the then owners of the chapel - the Welsh Development Agency - refused to discuss the cinema option and offered the Davies only a short term lease on the building .

"I don't think that plan was helped by the delays surrounding the cattle market site which seems to be holding up everything in Abergavenny at the moment," said Mr Davies

"Since then we've looked at a number of sites but any premises in the high street are too expensive to do anything with.

"In the time it's taken us to find something suitable in Abergavenny we have bought the Palace in Haverfordwest and established it successfully," he added.

"We've been in negotiations with Gerry Young, the agent selling the Drill Hall, since November and we finally signed the contract and became the new owners on Friday," he said.

"It's by far the biggest thing we've ever done and we're having some sleepless nights but we are delighted that the project can finally go ahead."

Mr Davies said that work could now begin in earnest on the conversion, which it is anticipated will take almost a year.

"The first hurdle to overcome will be the planning stages and we hope that an application can be submitted to Monmouthshire County Council within the next few weeks," he said.

"There will be no drastic changes to the outside of the Victorian building but the inside will be unrecognisable when it is converted to a modern purpose built cinema interior" said Mr Davies.

"We will be meeting with a specialist cinema architect this week and starting work on the planning side of things as soon as possible."

When it opens - hopefully by Spring 2010 - the cinema will show a programme of general release films similar to that on offer at Brecon.

"The programme will be largely mainstream with a slight leaning towards art house films," said Mr Davies, who has worked at the Coliseum Cinema for 30 years and owned it for 15.

"Irene and I run our businesses as a partnership - we're not a limited company - and we aim to operate our cinemas in the most professional way. We want to give value for money and offer our customers a good experience because this is a huge investment for us and it has to work," said Mr Davies.

"We are both so pleased to finally being able to open a cinema in Abergavenny because we have been trying to do so for so long.

"We love Abergavenny and visit every week and always feel that people are very lucky to be living here but sometimes fail to acknowledge what a lovely town it is.

"Every town has its problems with closed shops and anti-social behaviour, but I have to say whenever we visit Abergavenny is bustling.

"It's a great town which deserves to be talked about in a more positive way.

"We're certainly looking forward to being part of the town," added Mr Davies.