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Couples on a Saturday night cinema date traditionally headed for the back row — where they could get to know each other better without having to follow the plot too closely.

Now the romantic action is heading for the front after Notting Hill’s famous Electric Cinema installed double beds where the front row used to be.

The owners of the 102-year-old landmark have ripped out 14 seats and put in six leather-upholstered double beds in their place.

Couples will be able to slip under cashmere throws with a glass of wine while they watch — or not — the latest releases or old classics. Nick Jones, founder and chief executive of the Soho House group of members’ clubs, which owns the Electric, said: “There used to be smooching in the back row, now there will be smooching in the front row under a blanket.”

He said the move, part of a £5 million refurbishment of the Grade II* listed cinema and adjacent club, was aimed at maintaining the Electric’s reputation as the most luxurious and comfortable place to watch a film in London.

He said: “In the 10 years since the Electric reopened cinema-going in London has really developed. Now there are so many different ways of seeing films you actually have to give people a really special experience to get them to go out to the cinema.

“If you are going to see a movie the Electric’s not a bad place to go.”

The Electric, on Portobello Road, closed down in June after a fire and is reopening today with the screwball rom-com Silver Linings Play Book.

The Electric House club next door has also been redesigned with a new Chicago-influenced diner and a library inspired by the Speakeasy bars of Prohibition-era America. The foyer of the cinema will have a new American-style donut bar with flavours such as Maple Bourbon, Bergamot Orange, Ginger Chew, Mexican Chocolate and Berry Trifle.

The cinema beds are thought to be a first in Britain although they have been tried abroad.

In the Electric, bed tickets, which will only be sold in pairs, will cost £18 a head compared with £20 for regular seats. They are discounted because cinema goers traditionally never want to go to the front row.

Couples contemplating trying to join the cinematic equivalent of the mile high club will be in full view of the rest of the audience.

As Mr Jones said without irony: “We’ll have to keep an eye on that.”