A tenant is needed to take over the Buck Inn at Thorpe St Andrew after the pub dating in part to the 12th century was bought by a property investment firm.

The Buck was bought by Norwich-based Black Orange Investments, which is run by a father and daughter who specialise in buying and developing period properties across the city.

They bought the Buck, which dates in part to the 12th century, prior to auction back in September for an undisclosed sum after it had been marketed for a guide price of £290,000. It was believed it was going to open up as a pub again with Airbnb rooms.

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However, it is now available to rent with Black Orange which states on its website: 'Set back from Yarmouth Road and overlooking the River Wensum, not only is this property aesthetically pleasing and full of character, it is also generous in size. With four sections to the main building, there is an impressive amount of internal floor space to behold."

When asked to comment further about plans for the pub, Eleanor Smithers, a director at Black Orange, based in St George's Street, with her father, Peter Smithers, said: "Unfortunately we are not able to comment about the future plans at this moment in time as we are currently exploring all options. The property is marketed on our website where we are taking all enquiries."

The Buck went up for auction with Auction House after no buyers could be found over three months, put up for sale by its owners Ei Publican Partnerships, formerly known as Enterprise Inns, originally for £350,000 back in May. Under the previous ownership of Ei, it had changed hands at least three times since 2017.

The pub closed in October 2017 after being run on a 'tenancy at will' agreement meaning the owner or tenant could terminate their agreement at short notice and Ei decided to close it within a week's notice, stating at the time: 'We aim to have the site reopened as soon as possible.'

Black Orange have a large property portfolio with around 35 commercial properties, mostly in the Norwich Lanes advertised on their website, although most are let as well as a smaller number of residential properties.