![\"Karen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/554ddb51e3068aef5cb97f2dd80ea8af.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nA drive-in cinema is searching for a new home after its owners said they have been told to leave its waterfront site after nine years.<\/p>\n
Co-owners Karen Hall and Kevin Wood said they were “gutted” when they learned Woodside Drive-In Cinema, in Birkenhead, must leave by March 2027.<\/p>\n
Hall said they planned to relocate and remained open at Woodside for their final Halloween and Christmas seasons, but no replacement site had yet been secured.<\/p>\n
Merseytravel, the Liverpool City Region’s public transport body which owns the site, said it was unable to comment while the process was ongoing.<\/p>\n
Customers watch films from their cars, with the sound played through their radios, at the drive-in cinema, with Hall saying it was originally intended to be a temporary summer attraction lasting about six months in 2018.<\/p>\n
Hall said she had not expected the cinema to be as popular as it is or remain at Woodside beyond its first summer.<\/p>\n
“We certainly weren’t expecting to stay open more than a few months over the summer,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It was just a lot more popular than we thought it was going to be.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karen said there have been wedding proposals after people met at the drive-in cinema [Karen Hall]<\/p>\n
Although the first night – which was a screening of Grease, chosen partly because of the film’s famous drive-in scene – did not go entirely to plan, she said.<\/p>\n
“It was almost like everything that could go wrong went wrong.<\/p>\n
“The sound went wrong and then the popcorn.”<\/p>\n
A new QR code check-in system also failed because there was no signal at the site, forcing staff to check customers in with pen and paper.<\/p>\n
She said they still use pen and paper because it “proved simpler”.<\/p>\n
She added the cinema had become an important part of some of their customers’ lives over the years, with engagements, weddings and families returning with their children.<\/p>\n
Hall said the venue had been part of about three engagements and two weddings.<\/p>\n
“We’ve built up good relationships with our customers over the years.<\/p>\n
“It has been really fun.”<\/p>\n
She recalled one proposal where the engagement ring box was placed in a popcorn order and delivered to the couple by a waitress on skates.<\/p>\n
A montage video of photographs and personal footage of the couple was then played on the screen.<\/p>\n
She said the man pretended there was a problem with the car window, before walking around the vehicle and proposing – customers who were there that evening celebrated by sounding their horns.<\/p>\n
They have remained in contact with the couple since getting married.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/3255cb429e412c3f5a67c55c4d27301d.jpeg\"\/)
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The drive-in has hosted several engagements, including proposals played out on its cinema screen [Karen Hall\/Facebook]<\/p>\n
Hall said customers started asking for Halloween and Christmas screenings, which persuaded her and Wood to continue.<\/p>\n
She said screening now typically attracted about 50 cars, rising to the venue’s 75 car capacity during October, November and December.<\/p>\n
The cinema also holds an annual free screening of The Greatest Showman where families bring tents, chairs and BBQs.<\/p>\n
Hall said the format also made the experience popular with some families who found a conventional cinema more difficult.<\/p>\n
As the film’s soundtrack is heard through customer’s own car radio, they can choose the volume themselves.<\/p>\n
The cinema originally had a three-year lease, which later continued on a rolling basis.<\/p>\n
Hall and Wood have since surrendered the lease after being told Merseytravel wanted the land back.<\/p>\n
“We didn’t really have a choice,” she said, but added that Merseytravel had “been really good to us”, with the business paying a peppercorn rent of \u00a31 a year.<\/p>\n
Hall said customers had been “devastated” by the news of the move, with some suggesting possible new locations.<\/p>\n
She said they would initially be looking for another location on the Wirral but would consider moving elsewhere if necessary.<\/p>\n
The cinema’s two members of staff are expected to move with the business, Hall added.<\/p>\n
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Customers watch films from their cars and hear the audio track through their car radios [Karen Hall]<\/p>\n
Hall described Woodside as the UK’s “last permanent drive-in cinema” – a claim BBC News has not been able to independently verify.<\/p>\n
She said “permanent” distinguished it from temporary drive-in events where screens and equipment were brought to a location for individual screenings. Woodside has a fixed screen and projector.<\/p>\n
Hall added that she was “pretty much confident” the cinema would continue elsewhere.<\/p>\n
“I can’t see it being something people want to leave for good.<\/p>\n
“But it just depends where… of if there’s anything available for us.”<\/p>\n
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