I WRITE in reply to last week's letter from Mrs Forbes Peebles of Pewsey.

Our current pricing policy is to charge £5 for all seats for the last show of the evening and to offer a reduced rate of £4 for those under 15, 60 plus, disabled or possessing a NUS card or proof of unemployment for afternoon and early evening shows. In the school holidays all seats in the early afternoon are £4.

In the light of the fact that we have increasing overheads, as do all businesses, and that the percentage of the ticket price paid to the

distributor of each film can vary from 30 per cent to 55 or 60 per cent for a brand new film shown on release (we will be paying the higher rates when we get Troy and the new Harry Potter film, for instance) we consider our prices reasonable.

Compared to other cinemas in the area we are not the cheapest but we are certainly not the most expensive and it is common practice in other cinemas to charge different prices at different times of the day.

During April we have had a

special rate of £3.80 for all seats on a Friday an offer taken up by too few people to continue.

There are currently three notices on the premises advertising our prices within the building.

That Mrs Forbes Peebles felt

degraded and discriminated against by being charged the same price as everyone else I find confusing. I was under the impression that to

discriminate against someone is to treat them differently.

We are a small single screen cinema in a growing town and we consider ourselves to be a vital part of the social and economic life of that town. Our customers are our bread and butter and we value their ongoing support which I am quite sure would disappear rapidly if the attitude of myself and my staff was anything other than polite and helpful.

I am also sure that the bright and lively 60-plus people who bounce up our stairs on a regular basis are quite capable of judging us for themselves.

GAIL FOSTER

Manager

Palace Cinema

Devizes