PLANS to rebuild Lyme Regis’ cinema are still ongoing as owners Scott Cinema say they are ‘actively engaged’ in a scheme.

In a statement released this week, Scott Cinemas insist they haven’t sold the site of the Regent Cinema, which was destroyed by a fire in March 2016.

There have been delays to finding a viable proposal for the cinema and starting building works due to the building’s grade II listed status.

Scott Cinemas recently merged with WTW Cinemas based in Cornwall and the company said: “The WTW-Scott Cinema group is still actively engaged in a potential rebuild scheme for the Lyme Regis cinema.

“We are currently working on our fourth set of design proposals, from which we need to reach the point where the rebuild scheme is both financially and architecturally viable.

“At present, we have not consulted with local authorities as there is little point in wasting everybody’s time presenting a scheme design that isn’t viable.

“New build cinemas are architecturally very complicated and the Lyme Regis venue being a listed building presents challenges to overcome, all of which add significantly to any build schedule.

“Once we have a viable, workable scheme, we look forward to working with the local authority and Historic England to progress this.

“Contrary to rumours, we have not sold the site and Scott Cinemas’ recent partnership with WTW Cinemas has only helped solidify our design aspirations for Lyme Regis and our continued expansion in the south west.”