Hire and higher

One of Britain's last film rental stores is enjoying the busiest time in its 29-year history, thanks to a surge in interest from nostalgia-seeking movie buffs.

- HEATHER MAIN

Owner Dave Wain, whose dad opened Snips Movies in Bebington, Merseyside, in 1995, says rentals have doubled in the last two years thanks to customers in their teens and 20s who regularly travel to his shop.

Spoilt for choice by streaming channels and bored of surfing the watchlist, they want to recreate the more personal experience of renting a film, after hearing fond descriptions of movie nights from their parents.

Customer Nathan Smith, 21, wasn't born when mega movie rental chain Blockbuster ruled the High Street - it filed for bankruptcy in 2010 - yet he makes a weekly hour-round trip to Snips from his home in Ellesmere Port.

He says: "I grew up seeing video stores on the TV and in movies, but I'd never been in one in real life.

"A colleague told me about Snips and I had to see if for myself. That was about two years ago and I'd never go back to just watching streaming services now.

"On Netflix, I could spend hours scrolling and never find anything to watch, but when I've made the effort to go and pick a film, I always watch them.

Dave, 47, took over running Snips from his father Peter 20 years ago and stocks 17,000 films - more than four times the number available on Netflix.