National Film Theatre to relocate to Bankside?

The British Film Institute is considering abandoning the NFT's base under Waterloo Bridge, amid increasing exasperation at delays to the South Bank Centre masterplan, which included the BFI's Film Centre plans.

A BFI spokesman told the Independent on Sunday that while the latest South Bank proposal was "still under consideration", a move to a site nearer Tate Modern was one of several other options on the table.

"The BFI continues to be in partnership with the South Bank Centre, and Rick Mather's master-plan is still under consideration," he said.

"However the masterplan has been subject to some delays and so understandably we have been exploring a variety of options."

A spokesman for the South Bank Centre said: "We are proceeding with our project as planned, and as far as we are concerned the film centre is an integral part of that plan."