FILM fans will soon get the chance to sup a pint while they watch the latest blockbuster.

When Brian and Simone Draper took over the Star pub in Bicester they wanted to offer customers a little more than traditional games and bar snacks.

So they invested in a projector and screen, and plan to create a mini cinema in the bar showing films for free.

Mr Draper, 36, a production operator at a Witney pharmaceutical company, said: “Cine-bar is a cinema in a pub.

“There’s no entry fee – people haven’t got much money these days.

“You come in, buy a drink and watch a film.

“We are going to roll it out to children first and let it build up, then roll out with later night films.

“We’ll have the latest DVDs and as far as we are aware we are the only pub in Oxfordshire doing it.”

He said if the cinema went well the pub might invest in a special licence which would allow them to screen movies 10 weeks after they have been on the big screen.

The cinema is one of a series of initiatives the pair hope will encourage people back through the doors.

Mrs Draper, who has given up her customer service job at Bicester Defence Storage and Distribution centre, Arncott, to run the pub full time, hopes to start up pool, darts and Aunt Sally teams again.

The couple, who have four children, also plan to have a bouncy castle in the garden during the summer.

Mrs Draper, 34, who used to live in Market End Way, Bicester, said: “We wanted to go into the pub trade and it was heartbreaking to watch the pub go downhill so we decided as a local couple to try to save it.

“In the past there have been a few drug related issues, but we are stamping drugs out straight away.

“We invited the police in and have joined the Pubwatch scheme — people want to come to a safe environment.”