LOYAL customers of a flooded Kendal cafe will be raising a coffee cup to its long-awaited reopening on Monday, a year to the day since Storm Desmond struck.

Magda Szymanska-Linowiecka, 35, and husband Krystof, 44, had been running the Waterside Cafe & Bistro for just one year when the River Kent burst its banks last December.

More than half a metre of water surged into the riverside coffee shop, at Kent View, renowned for its home cooking and vegetarian and vegan cakes. Its renovation from a damp, stripped-back shell is only just complete, and Magda told the Gazette: "We didn't realise it would take so long. The year has been a struggle for us but we have had a lot of help from family and friends.

"Customers have been supportive as well, asking and sending their regards which was very nice of everyone and we can't wait to see all of them back."

The couple, who moved to Kendal from Poland ten years ago and are parents to two-year-old Connie, have expanded their rented premises into the gallery next-door and created a cocktail bar.

Unfortunately they had to let staff go during the lengthy closure, but they have a new team of ten who all hail from the Kendal area, and a new chef, Dawid Lisowski, formerly of Kendal's New Moon restaurant.

The newly decorated, 100-cover cafe features better access for disabled people and a children's corner, as well as resilience measures like flood panels on doors. The landlord has also tanked the walls to protect from moisture. "We are well protected now, I hope," added Magda.

www.watersidekendal.co.uk