CINEMA chain Cineworld has confirmed plans to temporarily close all its sites in the UK from later this week.

There are two Cineworld complexes in Newport, at Spytty and in Friars Walk, though the latter has not reopened since initially closing last spring, amid a disagreement with its landlord.

The company has said this morning that 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas in the UK will close from Thursday, joining more than 500 Regal cineams in the US.

It follows moves by big film studios to delay major film releases to wait for better audiences.

Around 5,500 jobs in the UK will be at risk as a result of the decision, which was widely predicted across the weekend.

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"This is not a decision we made lightly, and we did everything in our power to support safe and sustainable reopenings in all of our markets - including meeting, and often exceeding, local health and safety guidelines in our theatres and working constructively with regulators and industry bodies to restore public confidence in our industry," said Cineworld chief executive Mooky Greidinger.

"We are especially grateful for and proud of the hard work our employees put in to adapt our theatres to the new protocols and cannot underscore enough how difficult this decision was. Cineworld will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any future plans to resume operations in these markets at the appropriate time, when key markets have more concrete guidance on their reopening status and, in turn, studios are able to bring their pipeline of major releases back to the big screen."