�5000 wine win for Cromer restaurant

A small restaurant has a reason to be cheerful this summer thanks to a �5,000 wine win.

The Courtyard restaurant in Cromer will be able to buck the downturn and turn a profit thanks to the win, which could see it through to the end of the tourist season.

Owner Clive Bradfield said it would have an 'unbelievable' effect on the business, and added: 'We're a small business operating in a tough climate - this will make the world of difference to us this year.'

Mr Bradfield won the wine at a tasting event in London which he attended with a friend 'on the spur of the moment'.

The event, run by wine specialists Enotria, included a tasting competition where entrants had to identify the grape variety and country of origin of a mystery glass of white wine.

Mr Bradfield, who described himself as 'almost exactly the opposite of a wine buff', was so surprised he had won the competition that initially he believed a different Courtyard restaurant must have won.

The Courtyard restaurant, which seats 35, opened three years ago in a converted stables behind the Wellington pub in Garden Street, Cromer.

Mr Bradfield has been running the restaurant for just over a year, and hopes the win will see him through the rest of the tourist season.

He said: 'I spend more than �1,000 on wine every month during the season, so this will have a huge impact on the business - it's almost unreal.

'So far we have survived the recession without too much financial impact - last summer was fantastic, but through the winter of course it's very quiet without the tourists. This will help us start the season on a real high.'

Enotria chief executive Alison Levett said: 'We know what a tough trading environment it is at the moment, and we're thrilled to be able to support a small business in this way.'