THE smell of popcorn filled the air as cinema-goers flocked to the opening of the brand new VUE cinema in Darlington today.

Its opening marks the final milestone for the town's new Feethams Leisure complex which incorporates a host of eateries and bars that have been opening over the last few weeks.

Offering a whopping nine screens -three of them being 3D- the £4.8 million investment, is set to attract thousands of people this weekend alone.

Summer blockbuster Independence Day: Resurgance was the very first film to be shown to the general public this morning.

General manager, Rachel Carter, is proud of the new venue.

She said: “The facilities just don’t compare to any other cinemas, it’s a real high quality finish across the board, whether that be seats, cup holders, the projectors, we’ve really emphasised on the seating, the sound and the screen.

"It doesn’t get better than this. It’s incomparable to any other cinemas.”

The multi-million pound investment, has created over 45 full and part time jobs.