Mercury-Award winning artist Speech Debelle and Florence Welch, from much lauded rock outfit Florence and the Machine, are the latest celebrities to pledge their support for the Crystal Palace cinema campaign.

They follow in the footsteps of Hollywood director Spike Jonze and pop star Pixie Lott by being snapped with the Picture Palace campaign tshirt.

The group wants to see the former Gala Bingo Hall in Church Road turned back in to a cinema, not a church.

Speech, who grew up in Gipsy Hill, pledged her support to the campaign during a visit to the Alma pub in Crystal Palace.

She said: "Crystal Palace is a great place for food and bars but it also needs entertainment especially for the youngsters."

Florence said: "I am a south London girl and fully support the campaign."

More than 5,000 residents have signed a petition for a cinema on the site, while close to a thousand objections have been sent to Bromley Council opposing the application by the Kingsway International Christian Centre to change the venue into a place of worship.

The campaign group have also organised a mass meeting of supporters at the Queens Hotel in Church Road at 2.30pm on October 18.

The event - which it is hoped thousands of residents will turn out for - is intended to show the strength of feeling behind the campaign.

The application is expected to be decided at a planning committee in December.

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