There are growing calls for a Suffolk town to get a permanent cinema after how well received a portable one has been when it has visited in the past. 

A portable cinema has visited Sudbury a few times over the past six months and has been sold out on almost every occasion.

Now a business leader within the town is calling for a permanent cinema to come to Sudbury as she feels it will be "great" for the town. 

East Anglian Daily Times: Sudbury town centreSudbury town centre (Image: Newsquest)

In 2016 a multi-million pound regeneration project was announced which could have seen a cinema built alongside new cafes, shops and flats in the town. 

Owner of The Best of Sudbury, which champions local businesses, Penny Wilby said: "I think a permanent cinema has a lot of potential. 

"The travelling cinema has been really well received and I think there is an appetite for it.

"Not a massive Cineworld or Odeon, but something a bit like Abbeygate Cinema in Bury St Edmunds.

East Anglian Daily Times: Penny WilbyPenny Wilby (Image: Nicky West Photography)

"I think it would be really good for younger and older people. In terms of benefits for the town I think it would really help the night-time economy. 

"There are so many really nice pubs and restaurants that would benefit from more people being in the town. 

"Bury St Edmunds has now got three cinemas.

"How many people from Sudbury are going to Bury St Edmunds and other towns and spending their money there when they could be staying in our town?"

The business owner has suggested the former Winch and Blatch building in Market Hill could be a good place for a cinema. 

She did say that the only problem could be that it is a listed building and there may be restrictions in what could be done inside. 

Her comments come after Bury St Edmunds' Everyman cinema opened several weeks earlier.