Tom Farrow and his partner Alisha Perry, who deals with the company's social media, advertising and design work, with their daughter Iris-Kate. - Credit: Summer SUP Paddle Board Hire

A family who started renting paddleboards from their home in a north Norfolk village during lockdown have now opened a hire centre on the River Bure.

Thomas Farrow and his partner Alisha Perry started renting the boards after their home village of Coltishall saw an influx of visitors looking to paddle their way through the lockdown Summer of 2020.

Now he has taken the business to the next level, opening Summer SUP Paddle Board Hire at the Bridgehouse Hotel, opposite the bridge between the village and Horstead, on April 8.

Paddleboarders can tuck into a pizza before and after a trip around the River Bure. - Credit: Summer SUP Paddle Board Hire

The hire centre, which is open from 9am to 9pm everyday, allows visitors to rent a paddleboard for three hours for £16.99 and also offers boat, kayak and canoe hire along with a range of hot and cold drinks, pizzas and dirty fries available from its food trailer.

So far Mr Farrow says both customers and villagers have been "really happy" with the new business.

He said: "I did it last year from my home and we had tons of people coming round to rent them.

The new renovated hire centre in Coltishall. - Credit: Summer SUP Paddle Board Hire

""Then this year I wanted to see if we could get somewhere near the water to rent them from and so we asked the B&B and they were happy for us to use their land.

"Over the bank holiday weekend we had loads of people down here renting them, so it's been going really well so far."

The seating area at Summer SUP Paddle Board Hire . - Credit: Summer SUP Paddle Board Hire

After being given permission to use the land, Mr Farrow set about transforming the landscape in order to make it perfect for paddleboarding.

He added: "I've completely re-landscaped the area to make it perfect for hiring the boards and we've also got two boats we hire out.

"The reaction so far has been really positive, we're based on a public footpath so people can see through and they've all said they're really happy with how it looks.

The site of Summer SUP Paddle Board Hire before (left) and after renovation (right). - Credit: Summer SUP Paddle Board Hire

"The locals think the transformation of the area is incredible and refreshing.

"We have planted flowerbeds and cleaned up the whole area to make it more inviting and accessible to the public."

To rent a craft visit the company's website here.