A business plan for the Empire Theatre could be ready by the end of the week.

Work to bring the cinema back to Halstead is taking shape and volunteers hope they will be able to start applying for loans and grants next year.

Mike George, spokesman for the theatre, said: “We have been working really hard.

“The ballpark figure of what we need is £60,000, but the cinema used to have one of the biggest screens in Essex so we need to make sure that the equipment we buy is capable of filling all the space we have."