YATE'S long-awaited dream of its own cinema was realised tonight as Cineworld opened the doors to its 'no expenses spared' six-screen multiplex.

Hundreds of people packed into the brand new building, the cornerstone of the £25million Yate Riverside development, for a gala screening ahead of tomorrow's official opening.

Yate mayor Cllr Tony Davis heralded Cineworld's arrival in the town as a 'dream come true' for all the people who had campaigned for years for a cinema.

"I am absolutely over the moon," he told the Gazette. "We have been campaigning for an awfully long time and this is the fruition of a lot of those people's dreams.

"I am delighted to welcome Cineworld to Yate. The cinema itself is gobsmacking, it is very stylish and better than I ever thought it would be."

Town councillor Chris Willmore said: "This is the result of three generations of campaigning and I am so proud of all the work that has gone into getting this cinema in Yate.

"For years and years people said there was nothing to do in Yate at night. Kids campaigned for it and now they are grown up with their own children.

"But now it is here and people have no reason to travel to Bristol, there is free parking, there are restaurants, it is amazing."

The crowds packed into screen 6 of the new cinema for a special screening of Florence Foster Jenkins starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, a full week ahead of its UK release.

Cineworld's chief operating director Matt Eyre said: "You are the first people in the country to see this film.

"We pulled the opening forward a week for Captain America and the delivery of the build has been excellent. We build all our cinemas to exactly the same spec so people in Yate can expect exactly the same as they would in a big city like Glasgow.

"We are the most customer-friendly cinema chain in the country and we encourage all our staff to speak to people. There are no ropes and posts here, we want to make the experience for customers so much better and everybody here is really excited."

New general manager Steve Plank said after taking the post in February he had come to understand the support for a cinema in Yate.

"I could not be happier that we finally made it happen for you in Yate," he said. "I am privileged and honoured to be the first general manager of this new build.

"The cinema looks stunning and the staff have worked really hard, they are just as excited as the community."

Prior to the official ribbon cutting, Cllr Tony gave a nod to former Thornbury and Yate MP Steve Webb who first launched a campaign for a cinema in Yate, in conjunction with the Gazette, in 2003.

The first public screening at the new cinema is of Captain America just after midnight on April 29. The cinema has already taken 500 bookings for the film and a new Disney version of the Jungle Book this Bank Holiday weekend.