A well-known Lake District inn is already filling up with bookings as it prepares to reopen and its owners have hopes for a busy summer.

The Three Shires Inn, in Little Langdale, is gearing up to welcome back guests and thirsty walkers at the weekend after closing in March because of the coronavirus crisis.

"We are very pleased to be getting going again," said James Wilkinson, who runs the 19th century inn alongside Tony Guthrie.

"We are opening the rooms, but for dinner and breakfast people will have to book a time and everything will be table service.

"Other than that it will be pretty much the same for residents.

"There will be little change except that breakfast will be table service rather than self-service.

"We are also opening the bar for lunch et cetera and that will be table service with people queuing outside the front and a single flow through the business.

"We have spaced all the tables out so they are socially distanced and we don't have any expectation of problems as we've got quite a lot of space.

"We will have sanitisers everywhere and cashless payments where possible."

The inn plans to use an app on its website that people can access to leave their names and addresses to meet Government rules around pubs reopening.

"We would prefer for people to book in advance if possible," said James.

"For lunch service people will be able to queue up and if we have a table they can have it.

"For dinner it will be pre-book only.

"A passing walker who just wants to pop in for a pint will be able to do so.

"They are allowed to just stand in the garden and have a drink, but if they want a table they will have to wait."

He said bookings were already beginning to fill up quite quickly both for meals and accommodation.

"The evidence suggests at the moment that it will go back to being a relatively busy summer," said James.