A riverside bar will be open in Norwich until June, with organisers hoping to host a series of independent eateries over the coming weekends.

The Weir has opened in a car park in Westwick Street with 30 picnic tables allowing for socially distanced groups of up to six.

The venture has been organised by Norwich publican Aidan Mahon, who said he wanted to bring a "relaxed, family-friendly ambiance" to the site.

Mr Mahon tried to launch a similar venture last year, but scrapped plans for the Marquee of St Benedict's following noise complaints.

Norwich Evening News: A view from The WeirA view from The Weir (Image: The Weir)

"We opened last weekend and it was a really lovely vibe. When we were looking at the planning this year we wanted to make sure we took on board everything from last year.

"We've completely changed the way we've done things - we're only opening Friday, Saturday and Sundays, and we'll be closing at 10 every night.

"We're also encouraging families to come down, and dogs are very welcome too.

"It's always a challenge setting up pop-up sites like this but even more so with Covid.

"We wanted to make sure we got everything absolutely right - we've got table service and socially distanced tables as we want to be absolutely Covid secure," he said.

The publican, who worked at bars including the Butcher Bhoy and Dog House, added that he would be inviting varies food vendors to the venue.

"We've had pizza there before, we had American-style food last weekend and that went down really well so we'll be doing the same again this week. We'll be selling burgers, hot dogs, that sort of thing.

"We've also got a fully licensed bar selling beer, wine, and of course soft drinks."