BLOCKBUSTERS such as Beauty and the Beast and Star Wars: The Last Jedi fuelled rising sales and profits for the owner of Poole’s multiplex.

Cineworld reported an 11.6 per cent rise in revenue to £890.7million in the year to December 31 2017.

Pre-tax profits were up 22.7 per cent to £120.5m.

The year saw the company spend £2.7billion acquiring US chain Regal.

The company said it was encouraged by the film slate for 2018, which includes franchise movies such as Solo: A Star Wars Story, Deadpool 2 and Fifty Shades Freed.

The deal to buy the Regal chain was completed last month and will create the second biggest cinema group in the world, with more than 9,500 screens across 10 countries.

Boss Mooky Greidinger said: “The US is the biggest cinema market in the world and we are confident that this transformative acquisition will be a great success.”

Cineworld bought Poole’s multiplex in 2016, as part of a £93m deal to acquire five Empire cinemas.