Reece Holland, chairman of the Bridlington Leisure Association, said some of the businesses which are allowed to open in the East Yorkshire resort saw big takings on Wednesday as visitors flocked to the seaside with temperatures closing in on 30 degrees.

But Mr Holland said the a number of businesses in Bridlington, including two bars, have not survived the lockdown, and he still does not know whether the July 4 reopening of his family’s amusement arcade, pub and ice cream parlour will see them break even.

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He said: “I’ve spoken to a few different people on the harbour who’ve got different businesses and yesterday was one of their busiest ever days. It’s due to the fact that people have been cooped in. They’ve got money in their pockets and the weather’s fantastic, there’s nowhere else to go, there’s no holidays.

“If 10,000 leave the UK every day to go on holiday, they’re not now. And where are they going to go? They’re going to come to the coast, aren’t they? And rightly so.”

Mr Holland said he is preparing to fully open his businesses on July 4 with a range of special measures in place.

These include one-way systems in the amusement arcade with hand sanitisers by the machines and extra staff to continually clean.

But he said he is still poring over the 40-page Government guidelines and cannot be confident he will make any money.

Mr Holland said: “Everyone thinks as soon as you get the green light it’s fantastic and money will be coming back in. But I’m actually concerned now that, as soon as we open, there’s going to be that many procedures we have to put in place that I might actually lose money.

“At the moment, although I’m not earning any money, I’m not losing money. The day those doors open, I could potentially lose money because I need to take my staff off furlough and all the bills start up again.”

But he said there is potential for the second half of the summer season to be good for seaside towns.

Mr Holland said: “I think we’re going to have a good back-end. September, October is going to be better than normal. I do believe that a lot of English and British people who normally go to Tenerife, Lanzarote, Spain, they’re going see what Bridlington and what the Great British seaside can offer.

“I think they’ll be coming back again as long as we’ve got some good weather. We’ve got some of the best beaches here and don’t want for anything else.”

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End of holiday season set to be bumper one for Yorkshire's coastal businesses as thousands flock to seaside