One of Carlisle’s most popular restaurants has reopened more than a year after flooding forced it to close.

The Viceroy is now trading in new premises, above Ali’s Takeaway in Shaddongate.

The curry house was forced to close after its premises in Rigg Street, Shaddongate, were inundated with water when Storm Desmond hit the city last December.

It was the second time that the Viceroy had been forced to close, having been shut for 13 months after the floods of January 2005.

Owner Sukur Ali says he can no longer insure the building so had no option but to move.

The new restaurant has a revamped menu and can cater for more customers and Mr Ali is determined to take it back to the top. It also has more tables, meaning it can seat 80 people compared to 68 in the old building.

He said: “We have gone for a completely new start and a completely new set of dishes.”

The Viceroy opened in 1991 and is firmly established as one of the top Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants, not only in Carlisle but in the north west of England.

It has won multiple awards for its cuisine, including the title of ‘best curry house in the north west’ from The Spice Times Restaurant Awards and the British Curry Awards.

Mr Ali said: “I hope we will now be even better, everything is new and people can come and see what we have done.”

He praised his staff, who he said had worked “day and night” to get the restaurant up and running again.

Mr Ali said there was a lot of interest in the reopening. “I went into town the other day and six people stopped me to ask when we were going to reopen,” he said.

The old building in Rigg Street was leased by the restaurant and Mr Ali has no idea what will become of it.