My wife and I were looking forward to seeing the movie The Next Three Days yesterday evening. So off we went to the Cineworld multiplex at Brighton Marina to see Russell Crowe in action.

As we were buying our tickets, I spotted a notice saying that certain screens were overheated - especially numbers 7 and 8 - and that money would be refunded if customers returned within 20 minutes of the start of the film.

It wasn't the screen itself that was overheating, of course. It meant the auditorium. We didn't wait for 20 minutes. Within a moment of entering screen 7, we realised that it was unacceptably hot. It would have been too uncomfortable to sit there for two sweltering hours.

Clearly, other people agreed. There were just four people, noticeably lightly dressed, braving the cauldron.

While carrying out the refunding transaction, I asked why the problem had not been fixed earlier. After all, the same notice had been displayed last week when we went to see The King's Speech (shown on screen 1, which was also hot but bearable).

The staff member said that Cineworld's engineer had not managed to get round to the task. Engineer singular? Yes, he replied, there's just one engineer for all the Cineworld cinemas.

The company operates 78 cinema sites across Britain and Ireland, so I somehow doubted that. (Indeed, it transpires that the heating is maintained by an independent contractor, the same company that installed the system).

Back home, I looked up the Cineworld website and clicked on to the strategy page. This informed me that the Cineworld philosophy is "to create welcoming, contemporary cinemas that movie-goers will want to come back to time and time again."

It continued: "We have also made sure our audiences are well looked after, and that everything they need is on hand. We want the whole Cineworld experience to be smooth, memorable and exciting."

So what does Cineworld have to say about the hot screens of Brighton? Why has nothing been done for the last two weeks to fix them?

A spokesman for the cinema chain said: "Cineworld Brighton is determined to put an end to the heating issues in screens 7 and 8 as quickly and with as little disruption to customers as possible. At present, independent contractors are on site daily, trying to resolve the issue.

"Although Cineworld has decided not to close the two screens we do appreciate that some people may find the warm temperatures uncomfortable.

"Consequently, Cineworld has signposted the issue thoroughly and informed all customers that if they find the auditorium too warm they are free to collect complementary tickets to an alternative screening during the first 20 minutes."