The Prince of Wales, in New Street, Sudbury, might have been demolished by now if plans to build nine flats on the site had been approved by councillors in January.

The decision meant the sale of the pub collapsed and left landlord Duncan Tuhey feeling glum about the future, he said.

But customers flocking back to the pub have lifted the gloom and convinced Mr Tuhey to forget his plans to sell.

"The pub was on the market and a developer was interested into buying it, subject to planning permission," said Mr Tuhey. "But permission was refused and the developer pulled out. Since then I have been trying to build the business back up.

"I want to shut the door on the speculation, once and for all. The pub is not going to be turned into flats. That scheme is dead in the water.

"Since Christmas, trade has really picked up and that has made me determined to give it a go. There are a lot of plans in place to turn this pub around."

Mr Tuhey says he has been buoyed by the upturn in fortunes.

Drinkers who had neglected the Prince of Wales in favour of the town's new "superpubs" – JD Wetherspoon's Grover and Allen and The Silkworm – were beginning to return.

"Their honeymoon period was everyone else's nightmare period," said Mr Tuhey of the two pubs that opened last July. "We did manage to weather the storm and since Christmas we have returned to what it was like before they came and that has helped make my decision.

"I think people do tend to go back to where they used to drink in.

"There is a lot of negativity about pubs in Sudbury at the moment but if you can fight your corner, there is no reason why you can't compete. You just need to do something different.

"The bank holiday weekend just gone was our busiest for a long time. Everything now is the total opposite to what it was like in the six months after the two large pubs opened.

The plans to knock down the Prince of Wales were rejected by councillors on Babergh District Council's development committee.

ryan.goad@sudburytoday.co.uk