A York landlord has spoken of his and his customers' joy that he's back behind the bar.

Terry O'Donnell had only been in charge of The Victoria on Heslington Road for three days when he had to close indefinitely at the start of the lockdown.

Three and a half months later, he was able to start pulling pints again.

"It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant," he said this morning after the first full day and evening of selling drinks.

"One bloke who came in, it was his first drink. Since the lockdown began he hadn't had a drink.

"The look on his face when he got his pint, it was a picture. He was nearly crying."

Business had been steady throughout the day and evening yesterday and no rush of customers.

Everyone had observed the social distancing measures without the need for pub staff to ask them to keep apart.

Many customers had headed straight into the beer garden, which was busy up until 11pm.

Ciders and lagers were the popular choice for men while gin and tonic was so popular with the women, they got through 46 bottles of tonic.

The general mood had been happy and relieved that pubs were open again and people were drinking responsibly.

Today he was back behind the bar as he settles back into the seven-day 14-hour working week routine he missed under lockdown.

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