A PLAN to force a religious group to sell an historic former cinema was agreed as a 'last resort' by Waltham Forest Council yesterday.

The cabinet voted unanimously to back a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) of the EMD building in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, if owners the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) refuses to sell the site.

The grade II listed site was bought by the Christian group in 2002 for £2.8million and it has been trying to get planning permission to convert the building for religious use ever since.

But The McGuffin Film Society and the Waltham Forest Cinema Trust want to turn the building back into a cinema.

Any CPO would see the council sell it to a group with sufficient funding to turn the building into an entertainment venue.

The news comes as the government's planning inspectorate hears an appeal by the UCKG against the council's rejection of its plans for the site.

The appeal is examining two of the group's plans - one to convert the site for religious and one to turn the building into a church-cinema hybrid.

Both bids were refused by council planning committees.