A council has u-turned on its decision to axe free parking at a town centre cinema following a furious backlash from film fans.

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) took over the town's former Picturehouse at Elwick Place in April - and immediately scrapped four hours free parking previously offered to cinemagoers.

But the authority, which has called the six-screen site 'The Ashford Cinema', has now reintroduced the initiative amid fears the site would have remained empty.

It means cinemagoers using the adjacent Elwick Place car park can now watch films without incurring any charges.

Previously, visitors were having to fork out £2.60 for up to two hours, £3.90 for three hours and £5.20 for a four-hour stay between 9am and 3pm.

But they can now ask a member of cinema staff for a four-digit validation code that they enter into a ticket machine when they leave the 282-space car park, which uses automatic number-plate recognition technology.

All drivers are already allowed to park without charge at Elwick Place after 3pm, and ABC hopes reintroducing the free parking for cinemagoers will boost visitor numbers during the day.

But residents say they can’t understand why the authority decided to remove the offer at the site, which first opened in 2018.

Commenting on Facebook, one said "it shouldn't have gone away in the first place," while another added they were glad the council has "sorted" the problem.

Meanwhile, a third person noted: "If they can do this for the council-run cinema, why couldn't they just do four hours of free parking in all of the town centre car parks to encourage people there?"

Last month, ABC claimed the cinema can become the "epicentre of town" - despite residents saying the site is "often very empty".

Authority chiefs have put The Big Picture Limited, an independent leisure consultancy, in charge of operating the venue.

ABC insists stepping in to run the facility is "the only viable option in the short term" to save jobs and the attraction after Picturehouse, which is owned by the Cineworld chain, surrendered its lease.

A spokesman for the authority, which is run by a Ashford Independents/Green Party coalition, said: "The free parking will make the cinema more accessible and help increase the number of visits.

"The four hours free parking will mean customers can make use of the full range of services on offer at The Ashford Cinema, for example enjoying a meal before or after the film."

The cinema features six screens totalling more than 1,000 seats, with its smallest having 81 and largest 230.

It also has a restaurant for 50 guests, hall space with another 50 seats and a further 20 spots on its terrace.

General manager Ben Hammond believes scrapping fees is already benefiting everyone involved.

“We are delighted to see the parking offer return for our customers," he said.

"Putting it in makes visiting The Ashford Cinema more affordable, more convenient and just more accessible.

"It’s rare for anywhere to have free parking at all now, especially in a town centre.

"May half-term was a lot busier than we’ve been so far and I think part of the reason for that was because we’re now offering free parking.

"We want to encourage as much of a daytime audience as we can.

"Times where we think we’ll be even busier now will be on Thursdays when our Silver Screen offer - for over 60s [before 5pm] - is taking place, and also on weekend mornings too which is traditionally a busy time for all cinemas.”

Repton Park residents Colin and Fiona Fraser-Pritchard say they think the move will allow the cinema to thrive.

Mrs Fraser-Prichard, 56, explained: "With the cost of living as it is, car parking can be quite expensive now.

"Places such as Maidstone and Canterbury are especially bad, so the fact we have a town centre car park to use for free for something is terrific.

"With the train station nearby and the cinema being walking distance of many parts of Ashford, it should allow more people to come and visit.

"How well it does also depends on which road the cinema wants to take with its audience.

"If it decides to show more films for children then that may work even better.”