An Aberdeen bar has revealed it will not rush to throw open its doors on the first day lockdown eases.
Siberia, on Belmont Street, has announced its reopening on May 10 will be phased to ensure the wellbeing of staff and customers.
It is understood the venue will cater to outdoor customers only in regulations with the Scottish Government guidelines.
On April 26, non-essential retail, museums, galleries, beauty salons, gyms, and hospitality are allowed to reopen as travel restrictions also ease.
But with so much reopening at once, pub boss Stuart McPhee wants to be cautious.
Hospitality venues will be allowed to serve drinks outside until 10pm, while indoor venues will be restricted to soft drinks and an early closing time of 8pm until May 17.
Mr McPhee, director of Siberia Bar and Hotel and a spokesman for Aberdeen Hospitality Together, said he was confident the venue would be back to some “sort of normality” by the summer but did not want to rush it.
Admitting that so much reopening on April 26 “gave him the fear”, he said: “We’ve outlined our timeframe and have decided to delay our opening by a few weeks.
“We’ll open up outside from May 10 and then hopefully reopen fully the week after if we’re allowed.
“We’re looking to reopen the hotel in July and we’re quite confident that we can return to some normality in the summer.”
During this lockdown, work has been going on behind the scenes to improve the safety of staff – with a new payment system being installed.
New food and drinks menus have also been devised, and customers can look forward to pizza on the terrace for the first time.