The owners of the Bungay King’s Head Hotel have given assurances that they are still intending to restore the building to its "former glory".

The building has been closed since 2012, the same year former owners Tim and Jules Anderson took part in TV show Four in a Bed.

Now, 10 years on from Channel 4’s broadcasting, new owner Paul Thornton, managing director of Beccles-based VC Cooke, a trade-based metal and recycling service for local businesses, is "making progress" in restoring the building. 

A VC Cooke spokesperson said: “We are making steady progress through this heavy recession, having purchased it through COVID, we have not had the best times, but we are determined to restore Kings Head to its original glory.” 

The hotel is in a prominent position in the centre of Bungay close to the Buttercross. 

The former coaching inn had 13 en-suite bedrooms, two function rooms, a residents' lounge, restaurant, lounge bar and car park. 

Beccles & Bungay Journal: The Kings Head Hotel in Bungay back in 2001The Kings Head Hotel in Bungay back in 2001 (Image: Bill Darnell)

The grand building dates from the 16th century but, like other prominent buildings in the centre of Bungay, it was destroyed in the town's great fire in March 1688. 

Like many ancient buildings, it is reputed to have a resident ghost and has been visited by paranormal enthusiasts over the years. 

The hotel's moment of TV fame came in April 2012, with Mr Anderson telling this newspaper at the time: “We applied to go on the show as we thought it would be something good for the hotel and will be an interesting experience, which it was.” 

Beccles & Bungay Journal: The Kings Head Hotel in BungayThe Kings Head Hotel in Bungay (Image: Bruno Brown)The building had been bought in 2016 after a £500,000 legacy from late resident Harry Smith, who bought the estate for the town's benefit, before Mr Thornton took on the site in an effort to bring those plans to reality.

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Speaking in March 2020, he said there was "at least a year's work to do", as structural changes to the inside of the building are worked on by an architect.

"Unfortunately there's none of the original features left, we made a start and took things out, and we have builders going in to sort the roof out and expose the bare brick walls again, then we will start the internal work," he said.

He added: "Rome wasn't built in a day."

Beccles & Bungay Journal: The new owners have stripped the paint from the building's exterior and the beautiful red bricks beneath now are on showThe new owners have stripped the paint from the building's exterior and the beautiful red bricks beneath now are on show (Image: Archant)