A historic art deco cinema in Liverpool has been saved from the wrecking ball just days after retail giant Lidl announced plans to demolish it.

The Abbey Cinema, which was mentioned in the original draft of John Lennon’s classic Beatles song ‘In My Life’, was granted grade II protection by culture secretary Oliver Dowden after campaigners racked up more than 7,000 signatures in a last-minute petition to save it.

Lidl announced its intention on 7 April to flatten the 1939 cinema, which was designed by local architect Alfred Shennan, and to replace it with a store despite the building having already been converted into a supermarket after the cinema’s closure in 1979.

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