The hospitality industry was finally able to get restarted at the weekend as pubs, restaurants, and hotels in Weymouth all reopened to customers with new safety measures in place.

Business owners from all corners of the hospitality industry were able to get customers back into their premises after three months of sitting empty.

And scissors were working overtime too as hairdressers and barber shops opened their doors.

The weekend saw Weymouth town centre bustling with people going out to eat, drink and socialise for the first time in months. The overcast weather kept some people away and not every business decided to open, but there were still lots of people walking around seeing what the newly-reopened town centre looked like.

Hairdressers were only working on one customer at a time instead of leaving one customer sitting under a dryer and cutting a different customer's hair.

Sarah Gazzini, owner of new hairdressing business Gazzini, said: "We are getting used to everything but it is going well so far. We are fully booked which is great and we have even had to extend our opening hours to include Sundays as people are desperate to get their hair done. We haven't seen any lockdown disaster haircuts yet which is good!"

The salon has been kitted out with screens and all of the staff were wearing visors.

Storm Wallace, a hairdresser in Gazzini, said: "It has been great to launch on the first day everything has reopened again after lockdown. I was nervous on my first morning back to work thinking that I wouldn't be fast enough after having so much time off in lockdown but because we can't do two customers at once anymore we have more time. I think I will stick to this way of working even when the rules are more relaxed, I think it's great."

People were queuing from early on in the day outside the two Wetherspoons pubs in Weymouth town centre.

Both have introduced a one-way system and are only doing table service via their app. They also have a test and trace form for each person to fill out when they leave the premises.

Kim Newstead, manager of The Swan, said: "It hasn't been too busy because we are limiting the number of people that can come inside. We are full to capacity which is brilliant. We have had our app for years which makes it much easier for both staff and customers when they come here.

"People are having to get used to a slightly different way of thinking when they come to the pub which might take some time to get used to. We will have to wait and see how rowdy people get when they start to drink more but if anyone is not social distancing then we will kick them out."

Pubgoers have been thrilled to get back out to have a pint and drinkers in Weymouth on Saturday seemed to be having a great time.

Cassie Watters and Daryl Hovell were having a drink at The Anchor.

They said: "It is absolutely fantastic to be back at the pub having a proper drink and not just drinking out of a can. We've been trying to think when the last time we've been to the pub was and we can't remember.

"Even with all of the safety measures in place it is still a lovely experience being back at the pub. We do worry slightly that the more inebriated people get that social distancing will go out the window as people forget about it but we are so excited to be back.

"We don't think it is too soon. We have been lucky in the south west and statistically we have had a low infection rate so we can get away with getting more back to normal."

Others pubgoers have been happy to have somewhere to go but do not want to be out if large groups of people will be nearby.

Jackie Tucker and Kevin Brooks were drinking outside of The Kings Arms.

They said: "It has been nice to have a drink and to watch the world go by. Time will tell how people behave when they are drunk and we definitely don't want to be here when it gets dark."