Protesters gathered at the cinema on Monday night

There had been plans for some to stay all night to oppose Conwy County Council's proposal to knock down the 1938 building.

But in the end, the protest was over by 2200 GMT.

The council denies too many historic buildings have gone and said there had been no previous objections.

The scheme to replace the cinema with a rural development centre went to the planning committee in February and there were no objections.

Campaigners said they collected more than 150 signatures during the Monday night vigil for a petition calling for more public consultation.

Iwan Williams, who attended the vigil, said: "I think we made the people of Llanrwst that if people get together and stand up, things will happen.

"Llanrwst is a very special place, a unique place really and the more and more old buildings are knocked down it just becomes like any other town in Wales."

Visitors to the cinema dropped in the 70s and 80s and supermarket Kwik Save used it for a while but they moved and it was left empty.

Residents want to safeguard the cinema

Many local residents said the town needed to keep its old buildings.

However, Llanrwst councillor Wyn Jones said: "You could argue it's not in keeping with the character of Llanrwst. It's a big red brick building most of the buildings in Llanrwst are stone with a slate roof."

Councillor Jones said a rural development centre will be built once the former cinema building is demolished.

"The new building will be used by the community to help develop skills locally," he said.

The centre could also be used as a conference or exhibition room.