A 400-year-old Debenham pub at the centre of a controversial planning application has been listed as an asset of community value (ACV).

Villagers have campaigned against plans to downsize the Angel, in High Street, and turn half of it into a house.

Mid Suffolk District Council did not provide a decision within the statutory eight weeks since receiving the application, and an appeal has been sent to the planning inspector from the owners, Nick and Stacey Paine.

An asset of community value allows for community groups to have a “fair chance” to make a bid and buy it on the open market should it ever be put up for sale. This does not place any restriction on what the owner can do with the property, but it could affect future planning decisions.

A spokesman for local action group Save the Angel, which sought the ACV order, said: “We are delighted.

“It is a fairly recent and quite complicated process but it should allow the community more say in the pub’s long-term future.”

Jack Abbott, a member of the group and Labour’s parliamentary candidate for the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat, told the Diss Express: “The group is fully supportive of the business.

“It is a difficult time to run a pub and its difficult to make a profit off beer.

“We feel as a group the best way for the pub to survive for longer is to have it as fully functioning as it was previously.”

The change of use application has attracted almost 70 public comments, with a majority objecting to the proposals.

A questionnaire circulated by the group received around 250 responses, with the aim of assessing village reaction to temporary alterations and reductions already made to the premises by the owners.

The Diss Express contacted The Angel but had not received a response at the time of going to press.