A YORK city centre restaurant which was badly flooded in late 2015 is still months away from re-opening.

The Blue Bicycle in Fossgate is the largest city centre business or attraction still to recover from the floods, following the re-opening of the Jorvik Viking Centre last weekend.

The restaurant has lain frozen in time since being inundated by floodwaters from the adjacent River Foss just after Christmas 2015, with the windows remaining decorated with festive snow symbols.

York Press:

Most other businesses in Fossgate and Walmgate which were also inundated when the River Foss burst its banks have since re-opened after major refurbishments, including the Loch Fyne restaurant, just across the road from the Blue Bicycle.

The owner of the Blue Bicycle was unavailable for comment but an updated statement on its website said that the restaurant and rooms had been affected in the basement and low level areas by the flooding of December 27, 2015 and regrettably, it would be unable to open for business until the situation was resolved.

“Work is continuing to progress steadily, but as yet we do not have a more specific date for reopening,” it said.

“We are working tirelessly behind the scenes to reopen as soon as possible but due to both the extent of the damage and the number of our properties affected, the work is taking some time to complete.

“Unfortunately some structural damage to our building caused by the flood water has prevented us from moving forward with restoration works in this particular area, due to the complexity of the issues involved and the proximity of our building to the River Foss. In the meantime, we are continuing to restore our other surrounding properties.

“We do not anticipate being open before the third quarter of 2017. We will provide further updates on an estimated reopening date as we have this information available.”

It said that anyone with a gift voucher for the restaurant or rooms could be assured that they had no expiry date and would be accepted as a method of payment when it reopens.

It added: “In order to avoid any further inconvenience to our guests, we are not currently taking any bookings until we have a firm date for reopening. Many thanks for your continued understanding and patience. We very much look forward to welcoming you back to our restaurant and rooms as soon as possible.”

The Foss flooded after heavy rain on Christmas Day and Boxing Day led to record flows in the river, which overwhelmed the Foss Barrier and Pumping Station at its confluence with the River Ouse.

The Environment Agency has been carrying out a £17 million upgrade of the pumping station, which can now cope with any repeat of the flows of December 2015.