A CARAVAN park currently preparing to reopen after the coronavirus shutdown is hoping to capitalise on an expected boom in staycations.

Mike and Josie Brown took over Green Acres Caravan Park, at Houghton near Carlisle at the start of 2019, becoming the third generation of the Brown family to run the park.

They are hoping concerns over foreign travel this year could to lead to a surge in people looking for breaks closer to home.

Josie said: “We are hoping to be able to open to some degree in July, but it will initially be without our shower and toilet facilities. We sadly won’t be able to accommodate guests who don’t have their own facilities but we will be reassessing this as the season goes on.

“It is looking more and more likely that we will have to wait until 2021 to be fully open and back up and running properly.”

Since closing at the end of October, the Brown family has been busy expanding the site and building a new toilet and shower block to add to the existing facilities.

“These were the things most requested by our visitors, so we used the break to finally get it done,” said Josie.

“We also got planning permission to expand and build some new pitches. It’s been really hard not being able to welcome guests, and it means we’ve had no income at all during this time.

“So we hope that people will be looking to holiday in the UK and support some local businesses.

“A lot of people who are heading to Scotland to go camping or drive the north coast 500 route use us as a stop-over on the way up, and they come back to us on the way back down.”