It was a full house at Maldon's first Saturday morning cinema.

The district council's experiment paid off with 150 youngsters packed in to the town hall to enjoy Rugrats the Movie.

Some disappointed children even had to be turned away.

The new building was converted into a cinema for the day, with a huge screen, popcorn machine, ice cream and sweet shop.

Town clerk Helen Vincent said: "The mayor, Paul Rew, was very keen on the idea of having a cinema session for children. "There's been a lot of talk about Maldon needing a cinema and the mayor wanted to see one in the town while he was in office."

The Saturday morning cinema was helped along by a grant of more than £2,000 from the district council.

This will pay for Rugrats and three other films. If the venture succeeds, the sessions should start paying for themselves.

The next film at the town hall is Tarzan on March 18. Tickets are £2 each. Councillors will discuss the cinema at their next full meeting.

"Judging by this week, it looks as if this could become permanent," said Mrs Vincent.

"Hopefully it will do something for the town as well. People can come here from all over the district, drop their children off at the cinema and then go and spend some money in the High Street."

Come join the fun - three youngsters at Maldon's new youth cinema

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.