It has been a busy first month for the new owner of The Tramway Hotel, which now looks to have a bright future once again.

Mark Gee and his partner Joanne Croom now run the bar, restaurant, and soon to be hotel, in Pakefield.

Their seafood restaurant used to be based at the Claremont Pier until their move at the end of November to the site of the former Pakefield Terminus.

Mr Gee, owner of the Mark G Seafood Restaurant at The Tramways, said: 'We had gone as far as we could at our last venue and wanted to move into also selling drinks at a bar and have some rooms above.'

There had been worries about the future of the historic Tramway Hotel and Pub on London Road, Pakefield when supermarket giant Tesco wanted to convert the site into an Express store.

In what has been billed as a David versus Goliath-style battle, people in Pakefield fought tooth and nail against the proposals. After a three-year battle, Tesco announced it was backing down earlier this year – and now the building has since been given a new lease of life.

Mr Gee added: 'We have done a refurbishment in about five or six weeks and are trying to keep things a little bit like a traditional pub.

'We are trying to promote the bar more. We have had a lot of locals coming in and drinking and we want to welcome more in.'

In the new year Mr Gee said he hopes to be able to open three en-suite rooms for guests upstairs.

? To find out more go to www.markgee.uk

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