The owner of a bar and restaurant in Bolton town centre has said they will wait until they are allowed to have customers inside their site before opening.

Hospitality is allowed to serve customers outside from today as part of the easing of lockdown restrictions, however, this does not mean all venues have to open.

One that has decided not to open is The Little Bolton Town Hall, which houses Courtyard 36 bar and restaurant, in St George’s Street.

The venue is mostly geared towards inside seating, but does have a popular courtyard area, which could open today.

But Rebecca Brayshaw, who runs the venue with husband Chris, said they will be waiting until May 17 to open up again.

She said: “It’s been really tough on all venues in Bolton over the last year, we were only really open properly for three weeks because of the extra restrictions placed on Bolton last year.

“While opening will be really great for many, especially those in the districts of Bolton where the pubs are a really big part of that area or where people can go for a walk and then stop off somewhere, the footfall in the town centre is just not going to be the same.

“I can’t see who’s going to want to travel into the town centre when it’s absolutely freezing still to sit outside to have a drink, it’s just not the same. It makes more sense to wait until we can properly welcome people inside again rather than limited, uncovered seating outside.

“It would be different in a big city centre like Manchester where there’s guaranteed to be huge amounts of people going out but it’s much more diluted in a town centre like ours.

“The cost of making our outdoor area comfortable and dry is just not worth it when we can welcome people back inside in just a few weeks.

“We can instead focus on getting things as ready as possible for being back inside, which will help us so much more in the long run after the extremely tough year we’ve had. It’s only a couple more weeks for much more benefit for us.”