Art-house cinema chain bans 'annoying' popcorn

Cinemas across London are to ban popcorn because bosses claim it is too downmarket.

The country's largest art house chain, Picturehouse Cinema, will introduce popcorn-free screenings from next month which could lead to a blanket ban if successful.

Gabriel Swartland, head of media at the 19-cinema chain, said: "Lots of people absolutely hate it and have asked us to ban it, so we're going to do exactly that."

The Everyman Cinema Club, which owns 17 venues including one in Hampstead Heath, and the Tricycle cinema and theatre in Kilburn already refuse to serve the snack. The Tricycle's artistic director Nicolas Kent said: "Its smell is all-pervasive, it makes huge amounts of mess, and it distracts and annoys people intensely."

A £4 bucket of popcorn can have a 10,000 per cent mark-up, making a ban at multiplex venues unlikely.