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JD Wetherspoon has secured planning permission to convert a 1939 art deco cinema in Wallsend into a pub - a move that will create around 50 jobs in the North East.

The Ritz cinema in Wallsend opened at the start of the Second World War with an ‘art deco jazz age design frontage’ and JD Wetherspoon planners say they will restore the building to its former glory with an investment of more than £1.5 million.

The building, Wallsend High Street, has been empty for the last three years after previous occupants Mecca closed their bingo hall there.

The chief executive of JD Wetherspoon, John Hutson, said that previous cinema-to-pub conversions by the company had been a great success, singling out their recent Wallaw cinema conversion in nearby Blyth, Northumberland.

The Wallaw cinema and theatre was a listed building, but JD Wetherspoon got permission to convert the premises (a former home to entertainers Ant & Dec) into a pub after they made a commitment to keep the art deco feel of the historic North East building.

Both Blyth’s Wallaw and Wallsend’s Rtiz were designed by the Scottish architects Percy L. Browne, Son and Harding, a firm famous for their cinema designs in the north east of England

“We are delighted that planning [for the Wallsend pub conversion] has been granted. We are keen to open a pub on the site of the former Ritz cinema and believe that this will be a good addition to Wallsend’s social scene and also act as a catalyst for further investment in the town,” said Mr Hutson.

Work will get underway on the former Ritz cinema in the next few weeks as JD Wetherspoon hopes to have the pub open before the busy Christmas and New Year period. The 50 new jobs which will be advertised at the completed pub will be a mixture of full time and part time waiting, catering and bar jobs.

JD Wetherspoon now employs over 30,000 people in full and part time bar jobs all over the United Kingdom. They have over 900 pubs and a couple of dozen hotels and take on over 2,000 new members of staff in some years. You can read more about the chain on our company profile for JD Wetherspoon - and you can apply for the latest student jobs in Wallsend, Newcastle and other major student hubs in that corner of the world on our page of Part Time Jobs In North East England.