A popular restaurant is to reopen today, following a suspected norovirus outbreak.

The owner of Mu Mu in Maidstone made the decision to temporarily close down on Saturday night after fears the contagious bug had led to dozens of diners and staff falling ill.

But despite previous hopes that business would resume on Wednesday, owner Ciaran O’Quigley pushed that back to 5.30pm today to allow the restaurant to recoup lost food and drink stocks.

He said: "The whole building has been sanitised and tests have been done that show it is very hygienic.

"We made the right call and now we will move on. We've had masses of support in the meantime.

"We haven't even thought about how much it must have cost us to close the businesses. We are just focused on doing what we are doing and opening our doors again."

The restaurant reported the incident to Maidstone Borough Council's Environmental Health team, who are now investigating.