Local businesses in the area are eagerly awaiting Covid-19 restrictions in England to ease on Monday.

Hairdressers – along with pubs and restaurants offering outdoor service only – will be able to open fully on Monday. Indoor venues will be among the last to open on May 17, dependent on infection rates and the success of each road map stage,

Manager of the VeeVa café in Cockermouth, Gareth Williams, said: “We’ve been closed this lockdown completely – not even doing takeaways.

"But we’re taking the opportunity of lockdown easing on Monday to open our outside seating area and start up takeaways then.”

Gareth added that to help the business open properly, he was hoping for the sun to come out.

“It’ll definitely help a lot of businesses," he said. "If we’ve got the weather behind us, I’m confident that we can be busy again and that’ll make all the difference.”

He added: “I’m very excited to be going back.

"We’ll all be wearing masks as before and we have a new sign-in system to help make sure our customers will keep safe – and preventive measures are in place.”

Nearby, the owner of Honest Lawyer, George Sherian, said: “I’m a little nervous but looking forward to it very much. We’ll have to see how it goes of course.”

Like Gareth, George believed the success of his restaurant was in the weather’s hands.

“It’s completely weather dependent and we’re not taking any bookings – it will be first-come-first-served," he said.

"We have our outside space all prepared. Everyone has been working so hard and the staff are delighted to come back too.”

George said he was looking into an online ordering system so customers would not need to be given paper menus or even go to the till to pay.

“Hopefully they’ll be able to pay online without the handling of money between people but we’ll take it week by week.”

J. Edgar & Son at Dunmail Park in Workington is also eager to reopen on Monday. A spokesman for the company said: “We are very delighted to open up fully after what has seemed like a lifetime.”