Foodies in Norfolk made the county's restaurant week a 'huge success', its organiser has said, with 36,000 diners eating at 83 different restaurants.

Norfolk Restaurant Week, which ran from October 28 to November 8 last year, saw an increase on 2017 figures by 12.5pc, beating the previous year's 29,300 diners.

The event, which celebrates all things food in Norfolk, saw more than half of those taking part try a new restaurant, with nearly all of them saying they would return.

The week proved to be a success for Norfolk businesses, and there are hopes this year's will be bigger and better.

Organiser Martin Billings said: 'We were really pleased with the result. We expanded out of north Norfolk to all of Norfolk and it was great to see the support. There is plenty of potential to expand with south Norfolk, the Broads and the coast for diners to explore.'

A spokesman from The Farmyard Norwich said: 'Norfolk Restaurant Week is a wonderful celebration of restaurants around Norfolk bringing a fantastic footfall of both regular and new faces.

'The outreach to new guests is exceptional and talking to them about their experiences around the county is both engaging and informative.

'As a restaurant like ours it is also brilliant to change our style of service and menus and offer something different. I would recommend any restaurant to participate.'

The Lodge Old Hunstanton said: 'Restaurant Week was another amazing opportunity to showcase what The Lodge has to offer.

'It worked really well for us and was lovely to see the place so busy during a normally quiet part of the year and was great to see a number of new faces walk through the doors.'

For more information on Restaurant Week 2019 go to www.norfolkrestaurantweek.co.uk