Film directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach and Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant have joined forces to protest against plans to hand over the running of one of Britain’s oldest independent cinemas to a commercial operator.

The Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, north London, was built in 1910 and opened in 1912 as the East Finchley Picturedrome. It is an independent art-house cinema run as a charity by a board of trustees. It is one of the oldest running cinemas in the UK and London’s oldest independent community cinema.

The trustees are due to meet on Wednesday evening to make a decision about handing the cinema over to the Curzon group, a commercial cinema company, to take over operations and programming. But opposition to the plans is mounting.

Leigh, a patron of the Phoenix, whose new film, Peterloo, opens on Friday, is due to attend a Q&A at the Phoenix about his new film next Monday. He condemned the plans to hand over the management of the much-loved cinema.

His new film tells the story of the Peterloo massacre in 1819 when British forces charged on a peaceful pro-democracy rally in St Peter’s Field, Manchester. Using a life imitating art analogy, Leigh said of the proposed handover: “I am appalled and disgusted.”

He added: “As the writer-director of Peterloo, a film that deals with democracy and the rights of people to be heard and heeded, it would be more than hypocritical for me not to air these views publicly at my Q&A at your cinema next Monday, and I fully intend to do so.”

Loach, also a patron at the cinema, expressed concern about the failure to adequately consult staff and cinema goers about the fundamental changes.

“I’ve written to the board of trustees at the Phoenix and asked them to put the plans on hold until there has been proper consultation with staff and the community,” he said. “It seems that this has been done secretly without people being allowed to contribute to the discussions or the decision. The more big operators run cinemas the less choice of programming there is.”

Plant tweeted his support for the Phoenix, saying: “It’s too valuable to lose its independence – the Phoenix cinema is an institution.” He has donated £1,000 to a campaign to preserve the cinema’s independence.

The assistant technical manager at the Phoenix, Nathan Cable, condemned the plans.

Speaking on behalf of cinema staff at a recent public meeting, he said: “The trustees keep moving forward with the plans as if it is a done deal. One of the things that concerns us is the unwillingness to consult with the staff and the community.

“Chair of Phoenix trustees James Kessler QC told us the implementation date was 1 November. There seems to be a rush to push this through before this date. There are other options. Community is the most important thing in this day and age, and we need to stick together. We believe both short-term and long-term fundraising strategies should be implemented to secure the trust’s future, its ethos and the cinema’s true independence.”

At the public meeting Kessler said the Curzon would maintain the current programme of events at the cinema and the Phoenix would retain the freehold and run the educational events.

In a statement Curzon CEO Philip Knatchbull said: “We have no intention of standing in the way of the staff fundraising drive and if a viable solution can be found on their own terms we have no desire to block such a move,” he said.

A Save The Phoenix campaign has been set up. A campaign spokesman said: “Save the Phoenix (STP) are concerned that the plans for the proposed take over of the cinema were announced without consultation with staff,patrons and the local community.

“The Phoenix is a charitable trust set up with the aim of promoting access to film for our diverse local communities, and has a programme of educational, community and children’s activities. We are calling on the board to cancel or pause the proposed deal with Curzon to allow a chance to fundraise and secure a new strategy to increase footfall to the cinema. Thousands of people have signed our petition to keep the cinema independent.”

The Phoenix trustees have been approached for comment.