A Norfolk cinema has received more than £5,000 from the government to help it cover the cost of coronavirus safety measures.

Dereham’s Orion Cinema reopened on September 4, having been closed since March.

Through the government’s Cultural Recovery Fund, the cinema received a grant of £5,318 to help cover the cost of PPE and hand sanitiser for the coming months.

Owner Lee Allwood said that feedback to the cinema’s reopening had been “very positive” and that the cinema was “a safe place to be”, with automatic social distancing between booked seats in each screening.

“The films that are around at the moment are lesser known but are just as good in quality and up and coming,” said Mr Allwood.

As well as family films like Cats and Dogs 3, the cinema is hosting a programme of broadcast theatre, including a performance of Cinderella by the Australian Ballet Company and, on Remembrance Sunday, the National Theatre’s production of War Horse.