The owner of Alton’s Palace Cinema has told those hoping to keep it running that they need to act fast.

Raj Jeyasingam announced his intention to retire from the business a year ago and has not changed his mind.

He has put an £850,000 price tag on the freehold and told the Save Alton Cinema campaigners: “No free advice needed as to how the business could be increased. I want out! The closure of this cinema is imminent.”

While the building may not change hands in the immediate future, Mr Jeyasingam warned that the things that make it a cinema will not be around forever.

He said: “As I have said previously, both my projectors are no longer supported by the manufacturers for either the hardware or the software.

“This has created a bit of interest from some of the other cinema operators and service engineers, who have seen my ‘cinema for sale’ advertisement through the UK Cinema Association newsletter.

“I have received two firm offers to purchase my projectors, amplifiers etc to salvage spare parts to keep their equipment going for a bit longer. I have told them the projectors can be collected one month after this cinema is closed.

“Buy it now or else it will be like buying a ship without an engine.”

In response to Mr Jeyasingam, the Save Alton Cinema group wrote him an open letter.

They said: “It is wonderful to see the support and gratitude you have earned from the people of Alton, dating back from the glory days of the Palace Cinema to the present day.

“We need look no further than the comments to find heart-warming stories about your ownership – from delaying showings for families who were running late to providing treats on arrival for the kids; the stories show a real sense of community and a passion for the town of Alton.

“In this same spirit of doing our best for the community of Alton and prompted by your announcement that the cinema will be closing, we set up Save Alton Cinema.

“From our conversations you’ll know first-hand that Save Alton Cinema does not mean we are trying to stop you from retiring. My goodness, it is not anybody’s place to tell you when to leave the business. Nor is the Save Alton Cinema campaign intended to provide business advice. Simply put, Save Alton Cinema is a campaign to secure a vibrant cinema hub in our market town of Alton.

“Ideally we would love to save the current cinema building in the town centre, but we fully understand this has several complicating factors, the main one being you don’t believe cinema has a future.

“Instead you could make more money from redeveloping the building as flats.

“Not many people know a ‘change of use’ application needs to demonstrate the business has been marketed appropriately and cannot succeed in its current use. And that’s where it becomes tricky, doesn’t it?”

Save Alton Cinema surveyed 306 Altonians to gauge community interest in the cinema – 200 would be considered a robust sample which could be extrapolated to represent the population of Alton – and has gathered 2,890 signatures on its petition to save the cinema.

Some 73 per cent of respondents said the cinema being dirty and run-down was the sole reason they did not go. A clean and safe environment was important to 81 per cent, and 93 per cent said it was important to them that there was a cinema in Alton.

The open letter continued: “It can’t be easy to hear this feedback, that the current state of the building is the main reason people do not attend.

“But the purpose of the research is to get objective data to tell us how it is – if the cinema was a clean and pleasant experience, 94 per cent of Altonians surveyed would attend more. Extrapolated up, that’s around 19,000 people. That shows potential.

“We share these stats not to shoehorn you into carrying on, or to diminish what you have done for Alton; we share them with an eye to the future.

“Clear, objective and quantitative insight could encourage a buyer to take on the mantle and create an experience-led cinema in Alton.”

The campaigners’ vision is to move the Palace Cinema from the age of hundreds of movie-goers packing in just to watch the latest film into a future where the silver screen offering is only part of a greater night out.

Their letter said: “For every scare story about streaming killing cinema, there are stories about independent cinemas pivoting to provide new experiences, eclectic programming and innovative collaborations – just look at the Apple streaming service, partnering with Everyman, the brilliant Living Room Cinema down the road in Liphook and the consistently sold-out Rex in Berkhamsted.

“Save Alton Cinema is a project by the Guild of Optimists – as a group, we are respectful of what has gone before and, true to our name, we channel our thinking towards a better future.

“We are a community group, a coming together of local people who care about our town and love the cinema; we are not in a position to buy the cinema ourselves and nor has that ever been our objective.

“We simply set out to demonstrate that keeping a vibrant, community-focused, local cinema in Alton is possible, and is worth fighting for.”

The campaigners finished their letter by paying tribute to Mr Jeyasingam for his 27 years of running the cinema.

They said: “Raj, we salute you for everything you have done for the town. We value your experience and insight. We also value the objective insight provided by the community that shows potential for a thriving cinema in our town.

“If you truly don’t want this to be built upon the legacy of the 100-plus years old Palace Cinema, it’s not something we would fight you on. It is your building. Save Alton Cinema simply means let’s have a cinema in Alton.

“We wish you good health and happiness in your retirement, Raj. From the sounds of it, you utterly deserve it. Best wishes.”