Donna Jones and Stephen Brown, former landlords of the New Inn in Roughton, near Cromer on the north Norfolk coast, are planning to run the Crown in New Costessey as a two-man team.

Donna Jones and Stephen Brown, the new landlords of The Crown pub (Image: Denise Bradley)

The site in Norwich Road has three bars and serves hundreds of people who work and live nearby.

But despite being blown away by footfall after taking on the pub on April 1, the pair want to keep staff to a minimum.

Mr Brown said: "The location and footfall is much better.

The front of the pub (Image: Denise Bradley)

"It's a very densely populated residential area with a parade of shops across the road. The nearest pub is The Cherry Tree which is nearly a mile away.

"Donna and I plan to run The Crown on our own. If we increase trade, we will look at employing staff but right now we don't need to.

"We took on the New Inn as a temporary plan, the long-term prospect just wasn't for us. Donna used to run the kitchen there with another lady and I used to manage the bar.

"The Crown will be much easier to manage as we won't be serving food."

The beer garden at the site (Image: Denise Bradley)

The couple live above the pub in a four-bedroom home with Ms Jones' 14-year-old grandson and the pub dog, Tilly.

She said: "It has been really busy and we have been shutting at midnight.

Tilly, the pub dog, alongside Donna and Stephen (Image: Denise Bradley)

"Living at the pub seems to be working well because if we shut late we can just go upstairs to bed.

"We are dog friendly and have dog treats at the bar. Our pub dog, Tilly, has her own Facebook page called Tilly on Tour.

"We took her around Europe a few years ago and she loved it."

The publicans have a variety of music events lined up at the site, including a disco this Saturday.

© Norwich Evening News