More pubs will be welcoming punters back to beer gardens this weekend after a successful opening week for others.

Pubs in the borough were able to open outdoors last Monday (April 12) and no, more are set to open this week, including the Rishton Arms, Rishton, and Sam's Bar, Blackburn, which re-opened on Wednesday (April 21).

Owner of Sam's Bar, Tony Jackson, is excited to open again as the town centre bar has a loyal customer base and a fantastic sun trap beer garden.

He said: "We've one of the best beer gardens in Blackburn town centre.

"I thought, it's going to be nice weather so let's go for opening up.

"I'm not tied to a brewery so I am not chasing profits, all I want is to break even so I can pay my staff and have a little to put back into the place.

"I just want to get it going."

Peter Jackson and his partner Denise McKenzie who run the Rishton Arms said they hope everything is in place for them to open again this weekend.

Peter said: "The pubs have done really well and everyone is really relieved to be back out in the pubs having a few drinks.

"The local community are pushing for us to open as quickly as possible because they are wanting somewhere else to go."

Pete and Denise took over the Thwaites pub in August and after undertaking six weeks of renovations, they were only able to welcome customers through the doors for four weeks before they were forced closed by restrictions.

In this lockdown, they have been working on more renovations including a covered outdoor area which will be a huge help given they will only be able to open outdoors until May 17 at the earliest.

The pub will not be operating a booking system unless they become overwhelmed with walk-ins, however with seating for 70 to 80 guests, Pete said he does not anticipate this being an issue.