Fears remain over the future of a rural Suffolk pub after potential new owners failed to come forward.

The Oyster Inn at Butley closed its doors suddenly on May 12, with its owners announcing that the pub would remain shut for the foreseeable future.

In a statement on the venue's Facebook page, the owners revealed they had been approached by someone in the village to buy the property and were hoping to see it taken on by the community.

"We view this as a gap rather than a closure," said Judi Newman, one of the pub's owners.

The pub had been looking to take on new staff shortly before it closed its doors.

At the time Mrs Newman said they were mindful of the situation and had not wanted to hire new people if there was going to be uncertainty over future ownership.

She added that she had been happy to renovate the pub and run it for the past two years.

The Oyster was re-opened in 2017 following a four-year long closure and an extensive refurbishment.

More than 100 people turned up to see the pub re-open its doors to the community.

Residents gathered for a public meeting at Butley Village Hall on Tuesday night to discuss the pub's future and a possible bid for the pub.

However, residents remain in the dark as to who will be taking over the pub, as the potential bidder did not come forward at the building leading to further concern among those living in Butley.

"Our community was very saddened to hear of the shock overnight closure of our much loved village pub," said one resident.

"Although there has been mention of a community offer, no-one in the community is aware of such a thing and no-one came forward to say they had made an offer despite most of the village being in attendance.

"We are now in the process of working out if this is something that is possible for us.

"We do not want to lose such a valuable asset to our rural community."

The pub had taken on a number of additional roles in recent years, opening up a village shop, a microbrewery and its very own community cinema.