The director of a Nottingham catering company has explained how changes have been made to reopen a number of sites for the bank holiday weekend.

Romano's Caterers operates a number of food and drink outlets at sites across Nottingham, including ice cream and coffee vans at Wollaton Park as well as cafés like Bean on the River at the Victoria Embankment.

Those sites, along with its facilities at Holme Pierrpont and Newstead Abbey have now reopened.

Director Giac Romano, says the process to reopening has been "manic" but insists the company is going above and beyond to keep people safe.

A number of popular visitor attractions have reopened car parks and other facilities to allow people out for fresh air an exercise.

Some cafes, bars and pubs have also been operating new services to allow for takeaway options.

While there is still a level of uncertainty due to Covid-19, businesses such as Romano's are taking precautions to reassure customers.

Mr Romano added: "We've exceeded what other mobile operators have done, which has been tough, but we are so pleased to get back.

"Many of our staff are furloughed and currently we just have skeleton staff back, but they are pleased to be working again.

"We operate at many of Nottingham City Council's outdoor sites, and we have been staggering the reopening so we could do it carefully and safely."

The service is 95 percent cashless but for those who have not had card payment, the money is placed in a box to be cleaned.

Mr Romano said the feedback so far had been "fantastic" to the measures put in place at their sites.

He added: "We've got all our staff wearing masks, and they've all been great at adapting and taking part in risk assessments.

"We've had screens specially made to protect staff and customers at all our outlets, as well as a one-way system for queuing with a two metre distance, and barriers.

"We are 95 percent cashless at the moment, aiming to be 100 percent but for those who didn't have card, we have been taking some cash.

Subscribe today to get the latest Notts headlines direct to your inbox - it's free

Police in Mansfield Road

You can get the latest Nottinghamshire Live headlines straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter.

Twice a day we'll send you our top stories, plus breaking news alerts as they happen, in a completely free email bulletin.

To sign up just head to this page and select "Nottinghamshire Live news" - or enter your email into the black box at the top of this story.

"To do this safely, we are asking customers to put their money into a box, which is then sprayed with sanitiser, emptied into the till, and then clean money is handed back in change.

"We really have gone over and above."

Due to the time it takes to operate these new processes, menus have been reduced.

This also helps keep queues times down, and limit the number of people in the queue while they are separated by two metres.

Romano's ice cream van at Wollaton Park prepared for social distanced queuing.

"This first weekend hasn't been the best weather but if it had been hot like last week, we would have been extremely busy," Mr Romano said.

"So we want to make sure to limit queues, as spreading 10 people out two metres each takes up a lot of space.

"We have been in intensive discussions prior to opening and then on Wednesday, we reopened at Attenborough Nature Reserve.

"Then Elvaston Castle followed, Wollaton Park and Holme Pierrpont reopened yesterday and then Newstead Abbey and Bean on the River at the Embankment today (Sunday, May 24).

"Safety is absolutely paramount to us and we want our customers to be reassured when they decide to come to any of our sites."