Co-operative Travel said it is seeing a rise in "dream holiday" bookings in the run-up to Christmas after reopening its stories across Gloucestershire.

The company reopened its shop in Gloucester after the November lockdown at the start of the month with branches in Cheltenham, Cinderford and Lydney following suit last week.

And head of branches Natalie Turner said it was ideal timing ahead of the traditional Christmas rise in bookings, which were taking a different form this year.

She said: "We're already seeing an upturn in holiday bookings, particularly from May 2021 onwards which we're attributing to the fantastic progress being made on the Covid-19 vaccine, the opening of further travel corridors to some of our favourite long-haul destinations and the positive developments on the test to release quarantine system, all of which have boosted consumer confidence to travel.

"We're seeing growing demand for holidays to long-haul dream destination such as the Maldives and the Caribbean, and a desire for secluded, socially distanced luxury.

"Many of our customers missed out on their annual getaway in 2020 and, as a result, are eager to book something extra special for 2021."

She continued: "While we have remained available to customers when the stores have had to close, nothing beats the reassurance of face-to-face contact with a travel expert."