A PENSIONER told today how she fell for her husband during romantic dates at the threatened York Odeon Cinema.

Margaret Owston, from Heworth Hall Drive, made an impassioned plea to the chain's owners to keep the picture house open because it holds so many happy memories for her.

Margaret, 80, was regularly taken to the Odeon to see romantic films by her husband Roy, during the earliest days of their courtship.

Roy died two years ago.

"The Odeon was the background for holding hands with the boy I was eventually to marry," she said. "I would be devastated to see the Odeon closed as it was part of our life and so accessible." Margaret, who has backed The Evening Press campaign to save the Odeon, remembers skipping school aged 15 at the nearby Bar Convent after an important exam, to see The Barratts of Wimpole Street.

"As my friend and I came out we spotted our geography teacher in the street," she said.

"We had to pretend we were just going back in but we got away with it!"

Anyone willing to collect signatures for the petition should phone Matthew Woodcock or Mike Laycock on 01904 567132 or e-mail matthew.woodcock@ycp.co.uk

Updated: 10:31 Friday, January 30, 2004