A cinema boss says they had to hit pause on a film for the first time in “many years” to remove rowdy teenagers during a screening of A Minecraft Movie.

Tony McEwen, deputy chief executive at The Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks, said the behaviour, sparked by a recent TikTok trend, went too far and upset other movie-goers.

The film, which stars Jason Momoa and Jack Black, and is based on the popular video game launched in 2011.

Since its premiere, growing numbers of young people have filmed themselves trashing cinemas by throwing food and drinks, as well as shouting during particular scenes.

Speaking after the incident, Mr McEwen told KentOnline: “They are rowdy, they're cheering and jeering and at specific moments throughout the movie and we asked them to calm down and they didn't and then we asked them to leave and they didn't.

“So unfortunately the very much last recourse of anything like this is you pause the film, and they have to endure the angry glares of the rest of the auditorium of people whose lives they have been upsetting during the course of the film and then, eventually, they leave.

“We haven't had to do that for many years. Normally a few calm words and then a few stern words if needed will get most teenagers out of the room.”

Mr McEwen was quick to add he feels the cinema has been quite lucky in the grand scheme of things.

The key disruption has been the appearance of a character called Chicken Jockey whose name is shouted by Jack Black’s character Steve.

A chicken jockey is a rare feature in the Minecraft game in which a baby zombie rides on the back of a chicken.

Thousands of viewers have shared clips on TikTok of the overly-raucous reaction to the character.

The so-called Chicken Jockey “effect” has proved controversial with some cinema chains, such as Cineworld, embracing it with special screenings while encouraging people to be respectful.

While others have hit out against its disruptive nature and the knock-on effect for other cinema-goers and employees.

Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of charity Ambitious About Autism, said the viral trend “appears to be creating unnecessary anxiety and upset for some autistic fans of the film”.

Its led some UK cinemas to issue warnings to cinema-goers.

Mr McEwen recommended other cinema bosses stay vigilant, although he acknowledged cinemas are social spaces where people do join together, and stopped short of asking for any additional measures.

He added: “The point of a cinema or a theatre is that you can come and you can get your entertainment socially and part of being social is not ruining it for everyone else.

“I think precautionary measures are probably a little bit pre-emptive.

“What you don't want to do is jump the gun and I really, really, really want people to come and enjoy themselves and if you start putting measures in place to prevent the disruptive people, there's a spillover from that.

“That can't be had because we're trying to keep it friendly, especially for a small place like us and we rely very much on repeat custom from the same families.”

The Chicken Jockey effect has proved controversial with some arguing it promotes people visiting the cinema and sharing similar interests. Whereas, others have pointed to the disruptive nature and the knock-on effect for employees left to pick up the mess.