Cinema chain Vue is expanding its portfolio with new cinemas at new shopping centres, Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City.

A 3000 seater cinema will open at Westfield London, in the west of the city, at the end of this year. It will have 14 fully digital wall-to-wall screens, with the largest seating nearly 500

The chain will open a second site at Westfield Stratford, in East London. It will have 12 screens and 2,750 seats, above the planned restaurant and café court area. The new scheme is currently under construction and the cinema will open in 2011.

Speaking to ScreenDaily.com, Tim Richards, chief executive of Vue Entertainment, said: “We’re still working out how many 3D screens we will have. A large number, if not all, will be 3D.”

Richards added, “We fully expect Vue at Westfield London to be the most successful and one of the most important cinemas in the UK, if not Europe; we are already planning that both cinemas will be a focus for many special events and premieres.”

Vue’s plans to open nine site in the UK, including the two Westfields sites, over the next two years.