Lanercost Tea Room owner 'very excited' to re-open after December fire

The Tea Room was forced to close in December after a fire had caused 'extensive damage' to the cafe's water and electric supply.

Taking to social media, the owners said: "Sadly today we had a fire in the outside boiler room of the cafe and giftshop.

"This has caused extensive damage not only to the boiler but our electric supply and water supply, so we have sadly have had to close our doors until January as we cannot operate as a business.

"As you can Imagine Stefano, Angela , myself and the rest of the team are devastated... but we will be working as quickly as we can to get everything back on track so that we can be here for our lovely customers doing what we do best."

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Now, ten weeks on from the devastating fire, the Tea Room announced that it's re-opening.

They said: "Thank you for all the support we have received over the past couple of months. I am delighted to say that the wait is nearly over."

Lanercost Tea Room is set to re-open on Wednesday, March 1 and owner Stefano Calcioli expressed his excitement at being able to share the news.

He said: "It was a huge blow.

"I am very excited to get back up and running."

Although the road to recovery for the local Tea Room is almost complete, Stefano detailed how the cafe will only initially be re-opening for five days a week, between Wednesday and Sunday, as he eases in new staff members.

Whilst forcing the cafe to close its doors, the fire also made Stefano shelve plans for an upcoming evening pizzeria which 'should have been open by now.'

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Despite this, Stefano reflected on the postive side of things, with Lanercost Tea Room's renaissance just around the corner.

He said: "These things are sent to test us.

"Nobody was hurt, business is back up and running and money can be made back."