A Suffolk pub is set to reopen - owned by a man who enjoyed his first ever pint there.

Matt Coleman and partner Ysobel Hellon-Warwick have taken over The Swan in Needham Market.

The High Street pub is set to reopen on Thursday, April 6, after closing its doors in July.

It was forced to close after the previous owners decided to leave the business, and Greene King completed a refurbishment of the site while searching for new owners.

The couple have now taken over after both working in the industry for about a decade.

East Anglian Daily Times: Matt Coleman and Ysobel Hellon-Warwick are the new owners of The Swan in Needham MarketMatt Coleman and Ysobel Hellon-Warwick are the new owners of The Swan in Needham Market (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Mr Coleman, 35, said: "We were both fed up with the usual ways of working - unsociable hours and unfair rotas - and we thought it would be good to create a nice place to work for staff.

"I grew up in Needham Market and had my very first pint in The Swan. It just seemed like a very good opportunity.

"They were just missing a community pub. A pub is so crucial to a community. We wanted an opportunity to run it right and give to the town what it needs.

"We are just quite excited to get going and welcome everyone into the pub."

East Anglian Daily Times: Matt Coleman and Ysobel Hellon-Warwick outside the re-vamped pubMatt Coleman and Ysobel Hellon-Warwick outside the re-vamped pub (Image: Charlotte Bond)

They are set to move from their home in Sudbury to the pub for its reopening.

The couple met in Suffolk when Matt was working in Sudbury's Wetherspoon.

Ysobel was visiting a Christmas fair with friends, from her home in Liverpool, and they had visited the pub for a last-minute drink before heading back home.

The 28-year-old said: "This pub is a bit of a dream come true. Last year, over a pint of Aspalls, we manifested and said we wanted to do this, and it has happened, almost exactly to the year.

"The other dream was a big dog. We just need the big dog now."