THESE are some of the spectacular original features of Bournemouth’s Odeon cinema which have been unseen by the public in almost 50 years.

They were hidden when the Westover Road cinema’s original, 2,300-seater auditorium was split into two screens in 1968-69 and have often been thought lost.

But historic buildings consultant James Weir – who is active in Bournemouth Civic Society – was allowed to take photographs of what remains of the 1929 design.

He is urging planners not to allow the unique features to be destroyed now that a planning application has been submitted to turn the cinema into shops and 84 flats.

The cinema opened in 1929 as the Regent and was one of the last major cinemas built before the Renaissance style gave way to the Art Deco of the 1930s.

In a lengthy report, Mr Weir says the cinema offered “an atmosphere of escapism swathed in a level of luxury few patrons would ever encounter”.

He writes: “The Bournemouth Regent, as the most significant expression of the American style of extant cinemas, therefore stands out as perhaps the last original design of this style.”

Although many of the original features are gone – including the building’s giant domed roof – a lot of the decoration remains behind the scenes.

These include much of the elaborate plasterwork and some of the giant painted panels by artist Frank Barnes, which adorned the side walls of the auditorium.

The building was designed by William Edward Trent, one of the leading cinema designers in Britain. He collaborated with local architects Seal & Hardy, who would design the Echo building a few years later.

Mr Weir says Trent was “never again to reach the heights of originality and elegance as he attained with the Bournemouth Regent”.

He adds that “there is no building in Bournemouth designed in a comparable Italianate style”.

The Regent became the Gaumont in 1949 and was regarded as one of the chain’s leading venues.

But with cinema attendances declining, it was increasingly used for live shows – including a famous six-night residency by the Beatles in August 1963.

In 1968, it was split into two auditoriums, with the upstairs cinema boasting a 70ft Cinerama screen. It was divided further later on to create six screens.

Mr Weir said the original decorative features should not be removed.

“All current descriptions of the building imply that no original fabric of the building survives internally,” he writes.

A heritage assessment submitted with the planning application says “it is apparent that little remains of the original interior layout or its detailing”.

Even an assessment of the venue’s suitability for listing in 2013 only mentioned features which were “thought to survive”, Mr Weir said.

“However, the findings of this report demonstrate that a significant amount of structural and decorative fabric survives from the 1929 building,” he adds.

Bournemouth council's head of planning, Andrew England, said in a statement: “I can confirm that we will be taking into account all representations we receive during the consultation process regarding the Odeon planning application where they raise material planning considerations.’’