A POPULAR climbing centre in Ellesmere Port will welcome back all children from next week.

Boulder Hut, based at Olympic Park in Poole Hall Road, began a phased reopening last weekend having temporarily closed back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Initially, only climbers aged 11 plus are allowed to visit the indoor centre but from Monday, August 3 all children will be able to gain admission.

The climbing gym has introduced numerous Covid-19 secure measures which includes capping the capacity so that social distancing can be maintained, checking customers' temperatures on arrival, and providing ample hand sanitiser stations throughout the building.

All visitors must buy their tickets in advance at boulderhut.com, while climbers are only allowed to use liquid chalk in order to stop chalk particles in the air.

The centre's cafe is also taking part in the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, which means discounted coffee and cake from Monday to Wednesday, and they’ve been accredited with Visit England’s We’re Good To Go Covid-19 Industry Standard mark.

Co-founder and centre manager, Samantha Oxford, said: "We’re so happy to be back open again. All our hard work preparing the centre, so that our community can keep safe, has paid off and we've had lovely feedback about how great it's felt to be back climbing here.

"Climbing is naturally a sport where minimising risk is highest priority and we've gone above and beyond the recommendations from the Association of British Climbing walls' guidance, so that the centre can be as safe as possible.

"We're really excited to welcome children back next week, as inspiring the next generation of climbers is at the core of what we do, and we have separated out the kids climbing area, the Boulder Zoo, into climbing ‘spots’ so that each climber is distanced from each other.

"We are now planning the safe return of our other activities, such as courses and eventually parties, but we're being cautious with our approach, bringing each activity back gradually, assessing how it works in practice before moving onto the next."