A RESTAURANT at a college has now reopened thanks to the efforts of its students.

East Avenue is a fully licensed restaurant and bar, run by the catering and hospitality students of Eastleigh College.

While eateries across the region reopened over the summer, East Avenue remained closed.

With the new academic year, it has reopened as of Thursday, October 8, with the college inviting diners to come and enjoy the range of meals on offer.

Curriculum Manager at Eastleigh College, Sue Lyons, explained: "It has been a challenging time for our learners, who have worked admirably from home.

"Now returning and new learners have had a couple of weeks back at college, we’re delighted to be reopening the East Avenue’s doors."

Regular diners have already started booking well into the autumn term, supporting the young chefs and front of house students.

Level 3 hospitality student, Brandon Middlebrook, is in his third year at the college and spends two days a week working at East Avenue where numerous measures have been taken to ensure diners, learners and staff are kept safe.

Brandon said: "We were involved in a dedicated planning day before putting a plan in place to adapt to all the new rules and regulations.

"East Avenue restaurant isn’t just a simulation, it is a business in its own right, so we’ve experimented and tweaked our new way of working ready for reopening.

“The hands-on learning and industry insight at Eastleigh College already really helped prepare us for working in hospitality."