AN independent Suffolk cinema is celebrating its 75th anniversary by selling thousands of tickets for just 5p each.

The Regal Theatre in Stowmarket, which enjoyed record attendances in 2010/11, is planning to toast the landmark with a string of screenings in the first week of July with prices set at 1936 rates – the year the theatre opened.

And in appropriate fashion, the main draw is set to be the return of The King’s Speech to the big screen, a film set in 1936.

Other films included in the 5p showings are Unknown, starring Liam Neeson, and A Turtle’s Tale.

Theatre manager David Marsh said he expected strong interest in the bargain screenings when the tickets go on sale next month.

He said: “The King’s Speech was a real favourite earlier this year and we had people say they had missed it or wanted to see it again, and it’s particularly relevant because it’s set in the year the Regal opened.”

The anniversary screenings were also discussed on the hugely popular Radio 5 Live film review show last week by top critic Mark Kermode and host Simon Mayo.

The 2,200 tickets for the 11 screenings will go on sale at 1pm on June 5.

The last time the cinema held 5p screenings, to mark the re-opening of the site in March last year following a devastating fire in the autumn of 2009, there were queues along Ipswich Street.

Last year the town council-owned cinema saw attendances reach 42,000 admissions – an incredible rise on the 6,000 that came through the doors in 2004.