The Duke of Wellington pub in East Keswick replaces tables with hay bales during reopening

Publican Karen Hart of the Duke of Wellington pub in East Keswick told the Yorkshire Evening Post that customers have 'loved' the new idea since reopening on Saturday.

The hay bales were sourced from a local farm in Wetherby - inspired by similar ideas used at weddings and the annual beer festival nearby.

Karen said: "Circumstances has presented up with a massive challenge to resume somewhat normal services at The Duke.

"Having to reduce the capacity to 50% in the restaurant and none in the bar area, we have come up with a new way of working.

"We’ve decided to move our restaurant outside.

"The hay bales were a perfect option as they are a low cost a bit of fun and we are trying our very best to adapt to this new system.

"Hopefully we can get through coronavirus."

Karen said the response to the change had been brilliant.

She added: "We wanted to add a bit of fun and make it safe at the same time.

"I had seen similar options at weddings and our local annual beer festival.

"We had a fantastic day [on Saturday].

"We did a BBQ and everyone used a one way system to get drinks."