THERE is “no justification” for demolishing Bournemouth’s former ABC cinema and replacing it with a block of 62 flats, the town’s civic society has said.

The cinema closed in January – closely followed by its Westover Road neighbour the Odeon – to make way for a new multiplex at the BH2 leisure development.

Bournemouth Civic Society has lodged an objection to Libra Homes’ outline plans for the ABC site, which would involve demolishing all the cinema building except for its frontage.

The developer has said it will restore the original 1937 facade of the building, if it survives under the cladding added later.

In his letter of objection, the society’s heritage and conservation officer, James Weir, said the society “cannot observe any justification for the loss of a cultural facility”.

He said the cinema was the only Bournemouth work of William Riddell Glen, a “highly significant cinema architect”.

“With over 2,500 seats, the building represents the largest cinema ever built in Bournemouth and the last cinema in the country to retain the ABC branding, only removed in January 2017,” he said.

He criticised a heritage report submitted by the developer for including “no expert and objective assessment of the internal fabric”.

He said it was likely that a “significant amount” of the 1937 interior remained, hidden by the work done in 1969-70 to turn it into a twin screen cinema.

Mr Weir noted that the ABC includes part of the former Westover Palace, which pre-dated the 1937 cinema and was originally an ice skating venue that was later used to show films.

He lambasted the proposal to keep the cinema's facade but demolish everything else, arguing that “the facade only has architectural, historical and communal value as part of the rest of the building”.

The five-storey building behind the façade was “likely to impact negatively on views along Westover Road”, he said.

Libra Homes bought the ABC and Odeon cinemas on Westover Road last year for a total of £6.15million.

It has already submitted two applications to replace most of the Odeon building with flats and shops, only to have the schemes rejected by planning officers as contrary to policy.