The Competition Commission has come to the conclusion that either the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse or Cambridge Cineworld must be sold in order to avoid a monopoly on the cinema market in Cambridge by Cineworld. Cineworld must also sell cinemas in Aberdeeen and Bury St. Edmund’s.

There was huge opposition to the enforced sale. 13,773 people signed a petition opposing the sale including Julian Huppert, the MP for Cambridge. The MP has since said of the decision: “I am very disappointed about this decision by the Competition Commission. I and many others wrote to them to point out how different the Arts Picturehouse is from the existing Cineworld but they have not changed their minds. I will be raising this in Parliament as soon as I can, and I will talk to Vince Cable to see if we can stop the forced sale."

Andew Lansley, Leader of the House of Commons, today voiced his agreement with Huppert about the Competition Commission's findings. “I feel the point [Julian Huppert] makes is a good one. Speaking purely personally and not for the government, I share with him his view that there is no case for the Competition Commission to seek to intervene in the ownership of the Arts Picturehouse”, said Lansley.

Huppert had earlier pointed out to the House of Commons that "the Competition Commission [has] previously refused to act on the near complete monopoly by Stagecoach on bus services in Cambridge or of Tesco’s dominance in the grocery market in Cambridge but is acting on a case where not only are the public concerned but thousands have signed a petition against the Competition Commission’s decision”.

Alasdair Smith, Deputy Chairman of the Competition Commission and Chairman of the Cineworld/City Screen merger inquiry group said: “Before we reached our final decision, we listened carefully to the many local filmgoers who wrote to us or signed a petition, expressing concern about a potential sale of Picturehouse cinemas.

“However, we are not doing anything that we think will jeopardise the future of any of the cinemas in question. We still believe that Cineworld and Picturehouse are in direct competition with each other. The sale of one of the cinemas in Cambridge to a competing cinema operator will restore competition in these areas and protect customers’ interests”

The Picturehouse website has a statement which currently refers to the decision as a “very frustrating outcome.” It states that it has decided to sell The Belmont Picturehouse in Aberdeen and Abbeygate Picturehouse in Bury St. Edmunds, but has not yet reached a decision about which of its Cambridge cinemas to close.