The owners of two restaurants in Bungay are celebrating after winning a prestigious award and being listed in two top guide books.

Mark Hougham and Tanya Martin own The Castle Inn and Suffolk Stonehouse in the town, both of which have been recognised on a national scale.

The Castle Inn has been listed in the Michelin Guide for the eighth consecutive year and also in the Good Pub Guide for 2017 for the second year running. It is the only restaurant in the Michelin Guide in the Waveney valley, the nearest others are at Southwold and Westleton.

The Guide says: 'Fresh, simple and seasonal country based cooking; the Innkeeper's platter of local produce is a perennial favourite.'

Mrs Martin said: 'This is a huge achievement and a wonderful recognition of the continued hard work of our team and suppliers.

'We have customers travelling from all over Norfolk and Suffolk to dine with us, and others have come from much further afield to stay over.

'In the summer we were honoured to have been given a 4* review by the notoriously hard to please A A Gill, he sadly passed away at the weekend, which means we were amongst the last to have won his praise.'

The couple's other venture the Suffolk Stonehouse won a gold award for the best independent restaurant at the PAPA UK 2016 Awards last month and the chef Jack O'Dwyer was also a finalist in the chef competition. He also took part in the National Pizza Awards in October, which he was a finalist in, while the restaurant was a regional finalist in the Observer Food Monthly Awards in October.

Mrs Martin said: 'Bungay has a vibrant food scene - there are of course a number of other places to eat besides The Castle Inn and the Suffolk Stonehouse, and we are proud to have been playing a part in it and putting Bungay firmly on the foodie map since 2007.'