Shropshire’s “Flicks in the Sticks” rural cinema scheme has added a new village to its fast-growing network.

Beckbury, near Bridgnorth, will host its first village hall screening on November 18, when the Burt Reynolds comedy A Bunch Of Amateurs is shown.

The Flicks programme, run by Arts Alive from its base near Bishop’s Castle, takes Hollywood movies out into rural parts of Shropshire and Herefordshire.

Ian Kerry, director of Flicks in the Sticks, said: “Beckbury has been on our waiting list for many years and we are pleased finally to try some screenings there. We would like to take on more communities, but lack of funding stops us.”

David Edwards, who has organised the Beckbury screenings, said many people had already expressed their support, and he expected it to become a regular event in the social calendar of the village.

“I was absolutely delighted when we heard that Flicks was available for Beckbury, and we have already had a lot of early bookings,” he said.

A second movie, an adaptation of the 1924 Noel Coward comedy Easy Virtue, is already booked in for the village hall on December 16.

Mr Kerry said: “By working with local promoters, using existing venues and using low cost technology, Flicks in the Sticks is able to bring big screen films, classics and blockbusters, to those who live in rural areas and do not normally get the opportunity to see such films.”

l For a full list of next week’s Flicks in the Sticks screenings across Shropshire, don’t miss tomorrow’s At The Movies page.

By Carl Jones