A FUN idea dreamt up by a bar owner over a beer to attract more diners has caught the imagination of the country, leading to him being described as a “prawnstar” by DJ Chris Evans and bookings from as far afield as Manchester.

Lotus Lounge in Yarm, Stockton, is expecting to be inundated with customers this weekend who heard about its first prawn festival through social media sites including Facebook and Twitter.

Word spread so fast about the three-day event starting this lunchtime at the restaurant which serves pan-Asian cuisine that even DJ Chris Evans in London had heard about the phenomenon.

A bemused Howard Eggleston, who co-owns Lotus Lounge said the idea had been “a little bit Peroni driven" on the Radio 2 breakfast show this morning when he was introduced as a “prawnstar”.

“We were competing with another local group of restaurants who had done lobster festivals and oyster festivals and every exotic fish in the world festival,” said Mr Eggleston who opened Lotus Lounge last July.

“And I sat there sulking over a beer and decided, do you know what, let’s do a prawn festival.

“It started with two guys saying 'we will book a table' and within minutes it went a bit viral on Facebook and Twitter as one of them put it on there as a bit of a daft thing.

"We had 65 bookings in an hour. They have turned it into this crazy thing, it has gone a bit mad."

Mr Eggleston insisted that the prawns would be fresh and he had enough stock to last until last orders on Sunday.

He added: “We are in a town that’s tiny. It’s a market town. People from Manchester and all over have called us.

“People say they are leaving work early on building sites to come and people have rung from solicitors offices saying they are on a half day, it’s all a bit mad.”

Assistant manager, Helen McKee, said customers could order sharing platters costing £12.95 featuring an array of prawn dishes.

“Booking is advisable but we would not turn anyone away,” she said.

“It’s so exciting, it’s just fantastic.”