A COFFEE chain with stores across the North-East has announced that almost all of its cafés will be reopen by the end of the month.

To mark the reopening, it will also give every single customer a free drink as cafés begin to reopen from today (July 6).

Costa Coffee, which has sites in Darlington, County Durham, Teesside and North Yorkshire, closed all sites in March.

During lockdown the chain started to reopen its drive-thru sites with staff wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and adhering to social distancing.

But the chain said it had begun the process of opening more than 2,000 cafés and was rewarding, both new and returning, customers.

Neil Lake, managing director of Costa Coffee UK&I, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback from our customers as we begin to re-open our stores.

"As we near our next key milestone of 2000+ store re-openings by the end of July, we’re delighted to treat Costa Coffee fans to a handcrafted drink, on us.

“To ensure both our customers and team members are safe we have introduced some new measures across our estate, while also maintaining the warm environment that we know they have been missing.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone through our doors to enjoy their favourite Costa Coffee drink."

How to get the free drink

The offer is available via the Costa Coffee Club mobile app, both to existing members and to newly registered users.

Both will receive 300 points, equivalent of £3, to spend on a drink of their choice in any participating Costa Coffee store across the UK from today.