Bid to revive The Ten Bells, in The Street, Stonham Aspal, approved by Mid Suffolk District Council

A bid to revive a village pub which has been shut for more than a decade has been given the green light.

Mid Suffolk District Council approved the plans to revamp The Ten Bells, in The Street, Stonham Aspal, yesterday.

The pub, which is Grade II-listed, shut in March 2013 and was later sold on the open market in 2014, later becoming a Mexican foods shop.

This then shut and the current owners bought the site in June 2023 with the intention of reopening it as a small pub and café alongside a village shop and general store.

Stonham Aspal CEVA Primary School is next to the pub.

The building will be separated internally to create the defined spaces of the pub and shop, while the residential area of it will be ‘largely reduced’.

Stonham Aspal Parish Council gave a neutral response to the plans.

The pub will be given new outside lighting, signage and a hanging sign.

Find out about planning notices that affect you via the Public Notice Portal.

Planners said the application would not cause any demonstrable harm or have a detrimental effect on the listed building.

They said, in terms of communities, the new combined site would be of public benefit.