Excitement and anticipation builds ahead of first Friday night for clubbers

After months in limbo, nightclubs and late night bars are once again open for business, having been among the very last to be given the green light to welcome back punters,

And owners and staff are bracing themselves for what could be a busy night - although equally they can not be certain what exactly to expect.

For Andy Gotts, owner of Fluke and Envy in Norwich, who is also chairman of Late Night Norwich, nothing will catch him or his staff off guard.

He said: "I really do not know quite what to expect - it is a big unknown. However, we are geared up for it to be a busy night and that is where we are at the moment.

"There are certainly interesting times ahead and we just want to get our heads down and get on with things."

Likewise, Kelly Evans, who runs the Ocean Room in Gorleston is not entirely sure what to expect, but said she was "really excited".

Ben Jay (left) with Kelly Evans (Image: Howard Marshall)

She said: "I think maybe some people are still anxious about cases being on the up, but at the same time there is a lot of excitement and we've been having lots of enquiries ahead of our big relaunch tonight.

"For some of the 18-year-olds it will be their very first night out and people have been saving they're reliving their 18th birthdays by coming to us, so that will be really exciting for them."

However, while it is the venue's first big night since it has been allowed to open, it will not be quite the same as before, with a number of safety measures still in place.

Ms Evans added: "We want people to have fun but we also want them to be safe, so we have an air filtration system in place, we have still capped our capacity, we will still be wearing PPE and we will still be checking temperatures."

Meanwhile, Norfolk Constabulary has confirmed that it will be ramping up officer numbers working in the late night economy in anticipation of a busy night.