Coalville pubs and restaurants came back to life on Saturday - and and were welcomed by owners and customers alike.

Many pubs in the area reported busy bars with safety measures in place.

And restaurants were also busy even though they were operating on limited capacity due to tables being spaced apart due to social distancing rules.

Coaville Nub News spoke to a number of pubs and reatuarants in the area on Saturday evening to find out how Super Saturday had gone.

And while many were waiting to see what the evening rush brought, most were satisifed and happy to be doing business again.

One Coalville labndlord expressed some concerns about customers social distancing and how difocult it is to enforce the one-metre plus rule.

And the George and Dragon pub in Thringstone reported on Sunday morning that they had been contacted by the Distcyt Council and visited by the police on Saturday over social distancing worries.

It meant that on Sunday, they were having to revise their arrangements in order to stay open.

But, in Coalville town centre, pub owners were saying things had been going to plan.

Gemma King, manager of the Snibstone New Inn in Belvoir Road, reported queues outside the pub.

She said: "It's been fine, everyone's behaving themselves and it was all good. We had a lot of people in but it was fine."

Nicholas Bray, manager of the Leicester Inn on London Road, had a similar story.

He said: "It's gone well for us. We've done the place out and everything's been made safe, people have been doing what they've been told and sitting down to drink.

"It's been all right, the customers have come back and we had a limited number in.

"It went as well as we could've hoped."

Dave Stanton, of the Stamford and Warrington pub, also said his customers were well behaved but admitted some are still frightened of the health risks associated with going out and socialising.

He said: "If they're one foot apart or one metre, I can't be telling them to stay apart.

"I've been here 32 years and all the regulars came back.

"But it was good to be back in business although some people are still a bit frightened.

"One of my customers said that one of his friends, who's getting on a bit, didn't come out because he thinks there may be too many people out on the first night.

"That's a drawback, but if he thinks it's safe then he'll start coming out again in Coalville.

"So it's up to the pubs in the town to show that it is safe again.

"But we have to give and take a little bit on safety measures, if they say people have to sit a metre apart, I won't be going out with a tape measure to make sure.

"There's a lot of common sense needed because I think we'll be dealing with Coronavirus for a while yet.

"But it's brilliant to have the pubs open again."

Greg Coppone, manager of the High Street-based La Torre Italian restaurant in Coalville, explained that he has had to open up to a limited amount of customers.

He explained: "I didn't put a lot of people in, maybe 10 or 11 tables, I didn't want to over-do it.

"The safety of the customers is our priority."