Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince will be screened from Wednesday, July 15 after Warner Pathé granted the cinema a licence to show it from its release date.

The cinema's co-director, Ray Trewhitt, said they were thrilled when they found out.

"Film distributors are very selective where they will launch a new film at," he said. "There was quite a bit of negotiating between myself and Warner Pathé who are the distributors. You really have to fight your corner."

Anticipating huge demand for tickets, the cinema has introduced a seat booking system for the first time. Potter fans will be able to book a seat in the back four rows for any performance for an extra charge of 50p, while the rest of the seats will be unallocated but with tickets available in advance for the usual prices of £5 per adult and £4 per child.

Mr Trewhitt said: "We've had a crude form of booking but this is the first time we've offered the facility to select a seat.

"One of the problems we found was, for a young couple who had got their child settled with a babysitter, by the time they got out all the good seats had gone."

Youngsters have waited an extra eight months to see the sixth film in the series after its release was put back from November 2008, when a lot of big films were being released. The July opening means the cinema is likely to be packed throughout the summer holidays and the cinema's owners are hoping to equal their last big film, Mamma Mia, which ran for six weeks.

Performances of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince will be on Wednesday, July 15 and Thursday, July 16 at 7.30pm. From Friday, July 17 there will be two performances daily at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, as well as a Saturday showing at 10.30am. Tickets can be booked in advance at the cinema, which is open daily from an hour before each showing, or on the door if seats are still available.