Council planners are expected to grant permission for the 74-year-old building on King Street – former home of the ABC cinema and Gala bingo – to face the wrecking ball once a suitable replacement use can be found.

A Lancaster City Council report stated: "The existing building is a large, bulky red brick structure that is not in keeping with the City Centre Conservation Area.

"The character of the area is not enhanced by the presence of this Art Deco-styled building, especially the tall, long red brick southern flank wall.
Vue
"The building is very prominent on the city's gyratory and as such a high-quality building would enhance not only the appearance of the Conser-vation Area, but it also has the potential to lift people's expectations of what Lancaster can offer and deliver.

"Also, following the opening of the Vue cinema complex and Gala Bingo's focus on their Morecambe venue, there are very few, if any, uses that could utilise (the current) internal arrangement.

"The site is currently not adding anything to the city centre's offering, and it is unlikely to do so in the future in its current state."

The Art Deco cinema was built in 1934 but the report said it was "not a masterpiece of its genre". However, the council has received one letter of objection to the demolition – the writer wishing to see the existing Art Deco facade "sympathetically integrated" into any replacement building.

The cinema, which closed in August 2006, was known as the Regal, the ABC and the Odeon during its long history.