A cinema chain is facing a strong backlash from customers after a film about warring gangs was banned in response to a violent incident.

Vue Cinemas has confirmed Blue Story will no longer be showing in any of its 91 outlets in the UK and Ireland.

Police were called to Star City in Birmingham on Saturday evening following reports of youths with machetes.

A 13-year-old girl and four other teenagers have been arrested following the mass brawl involving up to 100 youths, which left seven police officers injured.

Vue’s decision to ban the film nationwide has sparked an outcry on social media with some accusing the cinema chain of ‘blatant racism’.

One Twitter user called Jonathan said: ‘From what I can see, Vue Cinema’s decision to ban Blue Story from all of their cinemas is at best disproportionate and at worst blatant racism.’

‘The creators don’t deserve that, and it’s a major setback to the opening weekend Box Office numbers. Blue Story is black art, and once again black content creators pay the price for the actions of others. This is institutional racism in practice.’

He told Metro.co.uk: ‘The fact that the perpetrators of the violence were not even from the Black British community – although annoying – is less important than the fact that for some reason Vue has seen fit to punish the creators of Blue Story for the actions of others.

‘Had the violence been committed by black children, it would still not be a good enough reason to issue a blanket ban of a film that promotes an anti-gang violence message at its core.

‘There are clearly issues with youth violence in Birmingham, as there are across the country. It is clearly not race specific, but largely denotes the socio-economic problems across the nation.’

Blue Story focuses on two friends from different south London postcodes, on rival sides of a street war.

It is rated 15 for very strong language, strong violence, threat, sex, and drug misuse.

A Vue spokesperson has refuted all allegations of racism and said Showcase Cinemas have also banned Blue Story.

They added: ‘We can confirm a decision was made to remove the film from our cinemas. The safety and welfare of our customers and staff is always our first priority.

‘We are saddened to have had to take this step, which is not made lightly, particularly as the film itself seeks to strike a strong message against violence.’

Odeon cinemas has also said it’s reviewing its position on the film.

A spokeswoman said: ‘We are aware of reports of violence at cinemas which have been linked to the film Blue Story. The safety of our guests and colleagues is our number one priority.

‘We have a number of security measures in place for this film, and are currently reviewing these along with our programming, in order to continue to put the safety of our guests first.’

Two machetes were seized during the trouble yesterday, which saw mass fighting break out at the Birmingham cinema.

Seven police officers left with minor injuries as they tried to deal with the crowds in and around the cinema.

Dozens of officers were sent to the complex after a 999 call at approximately 5.30pm after reports of a group of youths armed with machetes.

Management at the cinema made the independent decision to close for the evening.

A dispersal order gave officers the power to move crowds on and arrest those who refused.

By 9pm, the area was largely clear with many held on suspicion of assaulting police, with officers suffering minor facial injuries.

In addition, a boy aged 14 was held on suspicion of obstructing police.

As well as the machetes, a knife was recovered from a roundabout near to the venue.

West Midlands Police say they are working to understand the cause of the incident.

Supt Ian Green, from Birmingham police, said: ‘This was a major outbreak of trouble which left families who were just trying to enjoy a night out at the cinema understandably frightened.

‘We worked quickly to move the crowds on but were met with a very hostile response and officers had to draw Tasers to restore order.

‘Thankfully, the injuries to our officers were very minor. We’ve also recovered two machetes and a knife, and it’s clear that some of those who went to Star City last night were intent on causing trouble.

‘We’ve had a great response from the public who have been very supportive of our officers.

We understand that families with young children will have been left upset by what they saw last night, but we urge people to appreciate that our aim last night was to protect the public and restore order, and that’s what we achieved.

‘We’re aware of a number of images and videos circulating on social media which appear to show those involved in last night’s violence.

‘We are assessing those and have already had a number of phone calls from members of the public giving us the names of people they believe were involved last night.

‘I’d ask anyone with images or video who has not yet got in touch already to do so that we can make further arrests.’

Chief Superintendent Steve Graham added: ‘We’ve made no recommendations to Vue at all.

‘If they choose to continue showing it, that’s a matter for them.’

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