NINE pubs with beer gardens opened in Otley on Monday with the partial relaxing of Covid restrictions.

Drinkers returned to The Black Bull,The Royalty, The Yew Tree, The Fleece, The Black Horse Hotel, The Otley Tap House, The Bowling Green [Wetherspoons], North Bar Social and the Whitaker’s Arms.

Otley Pub Club secretary Bob Brook said: “Nine more will be opening in May, and we still don’t have any firm dates for the rest. The best way for people to keep in touch with what’s happening is to check regularly the section of the Otley Pub Club website that covers pub updates - http://www.otleypubclub.co.uk/otley-pub-updates.”

He added: “As far as we at Otley Pub Club are aware, the opening at all nine went well. Obviously the fine weather was a bonus – especially for those opening early in the day. We only visited 4, which were all busy but not overcrowded, and the service and adherence to the rules were superb in all of them.The staff were all so cheerful and friendly that it seemed they were as glad to be back as were all their customers.

“We’ll be hoping to visit the other five during the rest of this week, so that we can thank all nine personally for surviving another three months of complete lockdown, and for preparing so well for re-opening day. In some cases the extra precautions and extra staffing requirements, for a number of customers that still has to be artificially limited, are likely to mean they are making very little money out of it. It’s great that they’re helping us all to get back to a feeling of relative normality again.

“We do feel desperately sorry for those pubs that can’t open because they don’t have an outdoor serving area, or have one that is too small to make opening a financially viable proposition under the current restrictions. We’re already looking forward to May 17 when we can enjoy visiting the inside of pubs that we won’t have seen for months, and meeting up with another batch of old friends again.

“As the weather improves during the spring and visitors start to return to Otley, it’s good to know that the pubs in this famous pub town will be open and ready to welcome them again.”