Photo reveals sorry state of The Point interior as it crumbles into a derelict state in Central Milton Keynes

The state-of-the-art cinema foyer, where thousands of people once queued to buy tickets to see the latest blockbusters, has been stripped of its former glory.

The fittings are rotting away and shrouded in dirt and dust, the floor is peeling and numerous tiles have fallen from the ceiling.

An anonymous member posted the photo on the popular Milton Keynes Past and Present Facebook page yesterday. It is not known how they managed to get access to the cinema area, which has been closed for a decade now.

The photo prompted an emotional response from readers, many of whom remembered when The Point opened in a blaze of glory in 1985, making history as s Britain's first American-style multiplex cinema.

"It’s shocking how something so great back in the days can look so terrible today … Neglect from the council is all I can say,” wrote one reader.

Others wrote: “Why has this been allowed to happen?” while reminiscing about happy times they spent in the then-luxurious cinema.

Despite The Point becoming a landmark and cultural icon in Milton Keynes, with its red light pyrmaid being seen for miles, its trade started to decline after the giant Xscape MK entertainment complex opened in 2000.

The Point’s nightclub closed in 2007 and the cinema followed in 2015, with Kingsman: The Secret Service, as its final film.

The building was used by a couple of local charities, but developers quickly saw the potential of the prime CMK site and applied for planning permission to turn it into flats.

Despite campaigns from the public to preserve The Point, the council granted developers outline planning permission for demolition and redevelopment. However, after years of no start on the building works, the permission expired.

Another developer, Galliard Holdings then lodged a new planning application, this time to demolish the famous pyramid to build 487 flats.

Last summer MK City Council voted unanimously to reject the Galliard application, with councillors saying the plans did not deliver an acceptable level of affordable housing and there were no "convincing justification of public benefits to outweigh the harm to heritage assets.”

Month later, the building’s future is still unknown.