Ipswich's Suffolk Punch has reopened again . . . after its third closure of the year. 

This time the management of the pub is understood to have been taken over by its owning company - the previous tenant had his tenancy ended in October.

The Suffolk Punch, on Norwich Road, is a well-known local landmark and is one of the "Tolly Follies" built by the Tollemache Brewery in the 1930s to slake the thirsts of local residents in growing parts of the town.

It closed shortly before the first lockdown in 2020 but a new landlady stepped in and ran it until early this year.

It then closed for a while before tenant Ryan O'Shea reopened it in July - but that only lasted a few weeks before the new manager left.

It was briefly closed before Mr O'Shea appointed another new manager.

Last month Mr O'Shea was served a no-fault notice on his tenancy of the pub and it closed again.

The pub has now reopened and it is understood to now be operated directly by Stonegate, which is the largest pub operator in the UK with both directly-managed and tenanted sites.

A spokeswoman from Stonegate Group said: “The Suffolk Punch, Ipswich has reopened on 3 November following a brief closure to get new management in place.

"The Suffolk Punch is happy to welcome back and serve the local community.”

The company was not able to say anything further about the future of the pub or whether it would continue to directly manage it into the future.

There are comparatively few pubs in the north west of Ipswich - and the Suffolk Punch has always been known as a "wet pub" concentrating on drinks with live music and some sports coverage serving the local community.