AYR'S Astoria Cinema has promised "future investment" as it marks six months since opening its doors.

Ayr was dealt a major blow when cinema giants Odeon confirmed they would be closing their local venue in May last year.

It was yet another town centre closure and was set to leave a gaping hole on Burns Statue Square.

However, in stepped Merlin Cinema, who announced just a couple of months later that they would be taking over the picture house.

They quickly got to work on opening only their second Scottish venue, known as Astoria Ayr.

After nearly seven months of hard work, the Astoria opened its doors at the end of March, just before the Easter weekend.

Staff at the venue have now confirmed that nearly 75,000 tickets have been sold since opening, alongside 63,000 items of food, including 19,000 buckets of popcorn.

More than 20 local jobs have also been created thanks to the takeover, with the cinema showing a host of popular movies alongside some classics.

The top five films so far have been Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4, Deadpool & Wolverine, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

A spokesperson said: "Thanks for all your incredible support, and stand by for future investment into 2025... including more screens to show more films and to give more choices.

"We're so honoured to be the 'beacon of escapism' in Burn's Statue Square at this magnificent and historical cinema."