Light relief for cinema

GAS lights fitted at a historic cinema more than a century ago will be restored thanks to a £2.3million lottery grant.

The “modesty lighting” was first installed in 1914 to deter “inappropriate behaviour in back seats”.

Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds – the UK’S only gas-lit cinema – had initial lottery funding of £122,000 in 2016 and now a further £2.3million is to be spent on refurbishing it.

Leeds council leader Judith Blake said the building was a “cultural gem”.

The cinema, which still has nine working gas lights, opened after the outbreak of the First World War to show news bulletins and morale-boosting dramas.