A CINEMA-goer who was charged a £1.50 transaction fee on top of the ticket price thinks the cost should be removed.

David Kelby Hill went to The Courtyard in Hereford to watch an arts film called The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

He checked the ticket price before he arrived, which was £7, and arrived at the cinema to buy the ticket with cash.

Mr Kelby Hill, aged 46, was disappointed and surprised to be told there was a £1.50 transaction fee.

He said: "For a simple single ticket purchase in cash face to face there should not be a transaction fee. Or just make the ticket £8.50."

He argued the point with staff but was told he could "avoid" the fee by becoming a Friend of Courtyard for £40 a year.

Mr Kelby Hill, who lives in Abergavenny and works in Ross-on-Wye, said: "When I buy a beer I am not charged a transaction charge.

"When I buy a shirt I am not charged a transaction charge. When I buy a cinema ticket (at any other cinema) I am not charged a transaction charge.

"And I have visited many other independent cinemas and arts centres in England and Wales."

He said he could understand being charged extra if he bought the ticket online through a booking service or with a debit or credit card, but he said as there is no administration involved in buying a ticket with cash, he did not think it was fair.

A spokesman for The Courtyard said: “The transaction fee was introduced in 2014 after our loss of funding from Herefordshire Council.

"We are a charity and this fee assists us with covering the administration of ticket sales. We apply a fee to each transaction, regardless of payment method, made through the Box Office in person, over the phone or online as each sales channel incurs a cost for The Courtyard to provide whether you buy online or a sales assistant serves you directly.

"We are not unique in this policy and many other venues have a booking fee which applies automatically at checkout to which ours is very reasonable in comparison.”