Flights are taking off and football fans can wildly support their heroes once again.

But people hankering after live music, theatre and culture are still at the back of the queue to get back to 'normal'.

Businesses in the arts and culture industry and the surrounding supply chain are still crippled with uncertainty and say their sector may never get back on track.

Natasha Highcroft is the director of Transam Trucking in Bungay, a company which specialises in the haulage of sound equipment for touring artists.

She said: "In 2019 we had a turnover of a few million. That's reduced by about 75pc since the pandemic hit. We've done set ups for a couple of online gigs and a bit of general haulage - but we're not really set up for that.

"The goalposts just keep changing and there's no funding left for us. There was some money available in the Cultural Recovery Fund but it was really difficult to get hold of.

"We've just got no idea when it's going to get back to normal, it's completely impossible to plan. And that's before you bring Brexit into it and the complications around getting bands in Europe over here. It does sometimes feel like the touring industry will never get back to normal."

Currently all restrictions are set to lift on July 19 - having been delayed by the Prime Minister for a month from June 21.

Emma Butler Smith is the chief executive of the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft and agreed that planning for the future was impossible: "The thing with this industry is it's dependent on everyone else being able to reopen. People can't come and see us if they're not touring a couple of other places because it's not financially viable for them.

Lowestoft Journal: The Marina Theatre in Lowestoft. Inset: Emma Butler Smith. Picture: Mick Howes/Marina TheatreThe Marina Theatre in Lowestoft. Inset: Emma Butler Smith. Picture: Mick Howes/Marina Theatre (Image: Mick Howes/Marina Theatre)

"Usually we can seat about 750 people in the theatre - the second biggest in Suffolk - but under social distancing we can have 100 or so.

"To be honest there's no point grumbling about which industries are allowed to go back and which aren't. Some people might think it privately but I think the past five years have been so divisive that we just have to roll up our sleeves and crack on instead of grumbling."