Campaigners in west Suffolk are hoping to raise £200,000 to save their local pub.

The push to save the former Beehive pub, in Horringer, near Bury St Edmunds, stepped up a gear following local consultation which showed that three-quarters of residents surveyed would use the facility.

The pub was once very successful and won a number of awards for its hospitality and food, but it has been closed since 2014.

A planning application was subsequently submitted to turn the building into a house which led to the formation of the Friends of the Beehive group to fight the proposal.

Since a public meeting where local people backed the campaign, the group has set up a not-for-profit community benefit society called Horringer Community Pub Limited, which hopes to buy the Beehive.

A share offer has been launched this week, with people invited to buy £50 shares, with the group hoping to raise £200,000.

Peter Crofts, chairman of the group, said: “The aim is to buy the pub to safeguard it as a community facility, and the village pub at the heart of the Horringer community.

“Our plan is to find a tenant to run the pub which will offer food and hopefully a café, too.”

The village already has one pub, The Six Bells, which operates mainly as a country restaurant. Villagers believe it would work well alongside a more traditional community pub.

In 2014, the village successfully fought an application for planning permission to turn the Beehive into residential use.

In June, it was listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) after 34 local people nominated it. This gives the community an opportunity to prepare a bid to buy the pub.

The owner, Hawthorne Leisure, has appealed against the listing and there will be a hearing to rule on this on March 16.

So far there has been an encouraging response regarding investing in the pub from the village, but the friends group would welcome any interest from the wider community.

For more information about the campaign visit www.thebeehivehorringer.co.uk or contact Peter Crofts on 01284 735044 or at petercrofts@btinternet.com