There are fears this week that the Easter Bank Holiday inferno which gutted Tenby's Royal Gatehouse Hotel could be the final nail in the coffin of the town's cinema. Like many of the businesses in the town, the fire could not have occurred at a worse time for the Royal Playhouse Cinema. After a long hard winter, manager Stephen Williams was looking forward to the cash injection that the first Bank Holiday of the season normally brings. "Despite the fire, the cinema re-opened just two days after the blaze which engulfed the hotel, but it might as well have remained closed as attendances were very poor," Mr. Williams told the Observer this week. "The cinema has been several thousand pounds down on the same period last year which seriously affects its ability to continue." Mr. Williams says he is only keeping the cinema open for the people of Tenby until a major development - which he hopes will include a new state-of-the-art cinema - of the site on which it occupies in White Lion Street gets underway. "The building is on its last legs, but it is maintained to ensure the safety of its patrons within the confines of the 200-year-old building," continued Mr. Williams. At Mr. Williams's request, the cinema was inspected by a fire officer on the Monday following the fire which gutted the nearby sea-front hotel. "Several suggestions were mutually agreed to, one being that the balcony would not be used due to the fact that the method of fire exit was through the rear door of the Royal Gatehouse Hotel," added Mr Williams. The following day, a second inspection was requested and undertaken by Pembrokeshire County Council, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and a senior police officer. Added Mr. Williams: "After the second inspection, several further stipulations were made, which I agreed to and which were implemented immediately. These were then confirmed as completed and passed satisfactorily by a fire officer on the Wednesday prior to the cinema re-opening." Now, a further request has been made by the local authority's licensing officer, together with representatives from the fire service and health and safety executive as a follow-up to ensure certain requested work has been carried out. However, Mr. Williams says he has declined the request for another meeting which was due to take place yesterday (Thursday). "Enough is enough," he said. "I cannot understand why it is necessary to have the cinema checked again unless there is a more sinister reason. Reluctantly, I am prepared to close the cinema if they insist on a re-inspection and further stipulations after it had been given the all clear by the fire officer."