A CINEMA manager has hit back at accusations that he has not helped police deal with crime and disorder.

Steven Allison, who runs the UCI cinema at the MetroCentre, Gateshead, defended his application to keep the screens running until 3am.

Police Chief Inspector Michael Wilkinson told a meeting of Gateshead Borough Council's regulatory commitee in a letter that the force had little co-operation from cinema managers after continuing incidents of late-night crime and disorder at the cinema.

He is objecting to the application for a late licence for the cinema, which will be discussed by the council next week. He said: "The MetroCentre is not particularly suited to such late-night business at the present time."

But Mr Allison said the police had never brought any long-running issues to his attention and he would have co-operated if they had.

He said: "I've been here nine years now and I've never known regular occurrences of any trouble."

The 11-screen complex is already open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays but wants to open until 3am on other days.

Mr Allison said, although the licence would allow late opening everyday, it would only happen occasionally.