CINEMA managers knew that something bigger than a mouse had made its home behind the screen when they discovered a mattress, bicycle, cycle helmet, a pair of slippers and a wad of Polish money.

It may have been a cut above sleeping in a doorway, but only just. The mysterious squatter in his comfortable, secret burrow will have had to endure three showings of Pride & Prejudice every day, plus The Dukes of Hazzard and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory — and all of them back to front.

Police are trying to identify the intruder who made his home by screen seven at the Odeon multiplex in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. But since setting off a security alarm he has fled his lair, which staff found when the alarm sounded at three in the morning.

Steve Margetts, the manager, said yesterday: “It looked like he was living a life of curious luxury. He had made a nice little home for himself. We have no idea how long he had been there, but it looked like at least four weeks.”

The uninvited cinemagoer had broken in at a boarded-up window at the side, carefully replacing the board each time he came and went. But he was an honest intruder who made no attempt to steal any popcorn.

“He appears to have taken nothing from the cinema, even though he had access to all our stock. None of the wrappers left behind were from products that we sell. Judging by what he left, he lived on yogurt, strawberries and orange juice.

“The thought of someone here watching us and waiting for us to leave each night is quite creepy. But it also must have been a bit scary for him; a pitch-black cinema at night is not the most comforting place to be,” Mr Margetts said.

“There were miscellaneous papers with various names on them among his belongings. We are investigating them and trying to identify the person concerned,” the police said.

As yet no evidence suggests that the pile of Polish money points to an East European plumber cutting his overheads.

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