Landlord of the Wortwell Bell facing eviction by Stonegate

Paul Holland took on the The Wortwell Bell, near Harleston, a Stonegate establishment, earlier this year.

Locals have praised his dedication to creating "a really lovely community pub" despite several challenges being thrown his way.

On Friday, May 17, customers were preparing to leave for the night when a car smashed through the front porch. 

Neighbours flocked to help and a host of emergency services worked to free people from the vehicle and treat them.

Mr Holland successfully reopened the next night after spending the day patching up the damage and ensuring it was safe.

The crash happened on a Friday night back in May (Image: Simon Leggett)

In the run-up to Mr Holland being handed his notice, he admitted he breached Stonegate policy by purchasing his beer from an external company.

Mr Holland said he had experienced problems with the usual ordering system and felt "priced out" by its rising fees so had to look elsewhere in order to keep the pub open.

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Despite this, Mr Holland said he has been left in the lurch with the possibility of eviction looming.

"I am honestly distraught - this has been absolutely awful," he said.

"Since me and my wife took it on, we have worked tirelessly to build it into a really nice community pub and we haven't taken a penny out of the business for ourselves. 

"I know I have breached the policy but I have tried to rectify it and have the necessary conversations with them to fix it and move forward.

"My bar manager also lives upstairs and now has to find somewhere else to go. It's been really stressful - just the worst few days."

A spokeswoman for Stonegate Pub Partners said: “Notice was served to our tenant in line with the conditions of the temporary agreement in place and acknowledged breaches of that agreement.

"As we treat communications with our tenants as confidential, we are not in a position to comment further on this matter."