The Astoria was once one of the largest and most celebrated cinemas in the country.

But proposals to return the Grade II-listed building to its former glory have progresssed at a snail's pace.

With its huge cinema screen, ballroom and restaurant, the Astoria was once a focal point of Brighton's nightlife.

Almost opposite St Peter's Church, in Gloucester Place, the cinema made up the "big three" with the Regent and the Savoy, and opened in 1933 with The Private Life Of Henry VIII.

Its grand features included a Compton 3/8 organ. One of the dozens of cinemas in Brighton and Hove hit by shrinking audiences, the Astoria became a bingo hall in 1977 but now lies empty.

It is just one of two buildings from the city's cinema glory days to survive. The Duke Of York's, at Preston Circus, last year celebrated 95 years of providing entertainment.

Designed by Edward Stone, the Astoria was completed in five months with a dull facade of white stone blocks, a rectangular canopy over the pavement and a neon sign.

The building housed a 20ft-deep stage with four dressing rooms while the auditorium was given an unusual French art-deco style.

The Astoria originally booked new blockbusters until the Odeon opened in West Street in 1937. It then became part of ABC's B-circuit, booking less popular films.

Later, it showed long runs of films such as Paint Your Wagon, South Pacific and Murder On The Orient Express but it showed its last film, Barbra Streisand's version of A Star Is Born, in 1977.

EMI removed the screen and levelled the stalls floor before reopening the Astoria as a bingo club. It became the Coral bingo club in the 1980s and a Gala club by 1992 but closed five years later when Gala moved to Eastern Road.

The Bass group wanted to convert it into a youth nightspot called It's A Scream but magistrates refused a drinks licence.

Three years later the Astoria Moving Picture Trust was formed by two cinema experts, Colin Dibley and Matthew May, and Brighton architect Nimrod Ping. They drew up plans to restore the building and got it listed.

Mr Dibley, now a 27-year-old cinema engineer, said: "We were 90 per cent sure that all the original architectural features were still there.

"We found the original staircases. We took a floor panel up and squirrelled under to find the orchestra pit. We went up in the fly tower, fighting off pigeons, and saw the original proscenium arch decorations had survived intact."

With proof that many of the original Thirties art deco features still existed, the trust put in a bid for the building for just under £1 million but was outbid by Brighton company Packham Developments - which exchanged contracts on the day the building got its Grade II listing, forcing it to abandon its plans to demolish the Astoria and build flats.

The derelict building was snapped up by Brighton-based Yes/No Productions for almost £1 million.

The Astoria Moving Picture Trust has demanded the production company - responsible for hit percussion group Stomp - makes a decision on the Astoria's future after buying it almost five years ago.

Former buskers Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, who own Yes/No, insist a decision should be known within six months.

It hopes to transform the Astoria into a commercial venue for rock and pop concerts, cabaret, live comedy and cinema but needs at least £6 million for the project.

A screen would drop into the stage area for films two or three times each week. Concerts would be attended by up to 2,000.

Mr McNicholas said: "Before we bought it, the building was left empty for many years and it now needs a new roof.

"The Astoria is a beautiful building and we are reluctant to give up on it as I imagine it is a prime site for knocking down and building a car park. We will give our best shot to bring the Astoria back to Brighton."

If Yes/No cannot secure enough private money to create a performance venue it will consider establishing a charitable trust able to apply for grants and lottery funds.

But only two cinema projects in the country - Worthing's Dome and the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle - have received grants of £2.2 million and £3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Heritage Lottery Fund also favours restoration projects where buildings are returned to their original use.

The Astoria was originally a 2,000-seat cinema, once the largest screen in the South East, but Yes/No believes such cinemas are no longer viable.

Project manager Graham Callister said: "Restoring the Astoria as a one-screen cinema would be very difficult to make it sustainable. It would also take many years to secure funding and there is no guarantee of success."