CINEMAS have closed in Falmouth, Helston, Redruth, Penzance, Truro and St Ives as a result of the coronavirus measures.

Merlin Cinemas, which operates the Phoenix in Falmouth, Flora in Helston, Regal in Redruth, Savoy in Penzance and Royal in St Ives, made the decision to close at the end of Tuesday's showings.

In a statement, it said: "At Merlin Cinemas we are committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for our employees and customers.

"With this in mind and following government guidelines we have made the difficult decision to shut our cinemas as of the close of business today, Tuesday, March 17, until further notice. We would like to thank all of our customers and staff for their support recently in these very difficult times.

"We plan to have an urgent management meeting tomorrow and will aim to provide a full update within 48 hours. This will include details regarding advance cinema and theatre bookings.

"In the meantime, updates will be made online, or you can make contact with us using any of our social media platforms or via the email, action@merlincinemas.com and we will respond as soon as we can.

"We value our cinema-loving customers and look forward to welcoming you back soon with a fantastic line-up of films."

WTW, which operates the Plaza in Truro, also said it was closing as of Wednesday, March 18.

Its foyer will be open between Wednesday and Saturday from 10am to 2pm and then again on Monday and Tuesday from 5pm to 7pm for customers seeking cash refunds.

Those who booked online will be contacted by the cinema.

Free hot and cold drinks will be on offer to visiting customers during those times and unused stocks approaching sell-by dates will be donated to food banks and homeless shelters, the cinema said.