A Suffolk pub that has been closed for 25 years is set to be "restored to its former glory" and reopen to customers once again.

The Red Lion, on Debenham High Street, has been purchased by a family near the village and works are underway to turn the medieval building, which has been used as a residential house for 22 years, back into its historic use.

Leonora Faggionato acquired the Grade II listed building last year in the hope that the pub can reopen in November.

East Anglian Daily Times:

When the pub came up for sale, Ms Faggionato, who lives on the outskirts of the village, decided to take a look at it.

She said: "I was completely bowled over by how beautiful it is. It has a beautiful medieval hall upstairs. It still very much feels like a pub.

"I was about to have my second child and hadn't been working in a couple of years and thought it was something I wanted to do.

"It has been a long process. It will take quite a lot of work. You have to tick absolutely every box when turning a house back into a pub."

Records show that a total of 21 pubs have existed in Debenham, a village with a population of around 2,300, but at present there is only one open pub in the village - the Woolpack, also on the High Street.

Ms Faggionato added: "Debenham is a thriving village, but since we have been here, pubs have one by one closed. There are those several pub buildings.

"The village needs a vibrant, busy family pub. There's often a sense around here that to have a family meal in a pub you have to drive.

East Anglian Daily Times:

"There are times when it feels a bit daunting opening a pub when so many are closing, but there's such community support behind it. It's been glorious."

The pub has already held a pop-up event for the village's Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee street party, where residents wrote their comments on post-it notes. One of the comments read: "Restored to its former glory".

According to planning application documents, the Red Lion closed in 1998 but before that had been a public house since at least 1746.

As well as the Red Lion, the Cherry Tree and the Angel pubs in Debenham have also closed in recent years.