One of York’s top restaurants battled through floods to serve more than 100 diners on New Year’s Eve.

Bosun’s Restaurant at The Boatyard says staff and customers went above and beyond so the festivities could continue.

Like many other businesses in and around York, the highly-rated restaurant, which opened just over two years ago, had been forced to close for a number of days over the festive period.

However, 100 diners were looking forward to a delicious meal and welcoming in 2024 in style, and owners Phil and Kerrie Cook didn’t want to leave them disappointed.

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With the site’s usual carpark under water, Phil and Kerrie arranged for alternative parking with help from Stewart and Lisa from Bishopthorpe Parish Council; the team built a temporary footpath, decorated with festoon lights, for guests to access the restaurant via an alternative route; and Phil even arranged for food and supplies to be delivered to the restaurant via canoe.

Kerrie Cook said: “When we took on this site we were clearly aware of the risk of occasional flooding and had already lost a considerable amount of business over the festive period, amounting to around £50,000. “However, we know how important New Year’s Eve is to many people, our guests were looking forward to a great evening and if we’d stayed closed, they would have struggled to find somewhere else to celebrate at such short notice.

“It was clear to us that we needed to do everything we could to try and open the restaurant. Local people, staff, friends, and family all mucked in to help. We used our canoe to transport deliveries to the restaurant through the floods.

“The Parish Council allowed us access to an alternative carpark for our guests, we moved raffia matting from our flooded tipi to create a new pathway from that carpark to the restaurant and decorated it with lighting to ensure everyone could safely find their way inside.

Kerrie added: “We were overwhelmed by the support of staff, friends and the community and thrilled with how well the evening went.”

Emma Gardner, a guest at the New Year’s Eve dinner at Bosun’s, said: “Despite the floods blocking the entrance to the restaurant, Bosun’s did a remarkable job finding a way to open, and saved News Year’s Eve!

“As ever, they delivered on food, service, and entertainment, ensuring a great party was enjoyed by all. I’d like to say thank you so much to everyone there, and we will look forward to returning soon.”

Steven Elvidge added on facebook: “We had a fantastic NYE at Bosun’s food was amazing as always, a full night of great Entertainment and the staff were superb.

“Well done to the team. A credit to you all.”