MILLIONAIRE Richard Branson has been asked to help two angry businessmen whose firm stands in the path of his planned Bolton multi-screen cinema.

They have told the Virgin boss they will not budge until their problems have been sorted out.

The men are partners in a small firm which has operated from the Tonge Valley site under various names for over 30 years .

Kevin Ormston and Alan Mann run fireplace firm Centredart Ltd from a mill complex on the land earmarked for the £40 million entertainment complex, including Virgin's purpose-built mega-cinema.

They fired off a "polite but firm" letter to Britain's best known businessman when City Challenge announced that the bulldozers are set to move in this November.

In their letter, the men accuse partners in the scheme of keeping them in the dark and they tell Mr Branson: "Until somebody starts talking to us we are not moving anywhere." They have started legal moves to resist any eviction and have asked Mr Branson to step in to help them secure compensation of about £70,000 if they are eventually forced out.

Mr Ormston said: "They keep talking as if it is a vacant site but it is not. And nobody is telling us anything about what is going on.

"I know this development will be fabulous for Bolton and we don't want to stop it going ahead.

"But we do want what we are entitled to and our solicitor says we have one hell of a case. We just want to tell Mr Branson about what has been going on." Tonge valley landowners Allen Brothers and Tudor Properties were due to sign a deal to sell the whole site, including the mill complex, with vacant possession to developers THI at the end of September.

But a spokesman for Tudor properties said: "THI have shown an interest but contracts have not been signed.

"We appreciate the concerns of Centredart but we are in the same boat. These announcements are made without consulting us and nothing has been settled or signed yet. The dates have already been extended twice and now they have been put off until December."

Nobody at THI was available to comment and City Challenge are refusing to become involved in the row.

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