The Bay Horse has opened its doors again after being taken over by new licensees, James Marritt and his mum, Tracy Marritt.

The pub had been closed for two weeks, after the departure of its previous landlord, Karl Richardson, who claimed a slump in trade had forced him out of business.

But the new tenants say they have been given a warm welcome by villagers and plan to make the Marstons-owned Bay Horse a hub of community life once again.

"It is a viable business as far as we can see, there is no reason why it should not work," said James.

"We have had a really good response since we reopened. All villages need a pub which is the hub of the village - we are the only country in the world which has village pubs and we should be proud of these things."

James and Tracy, who also run the White Hart pub in North Cave, plan to continue running both pubs together.

They are planning to re-introduce traditional English cooking at the Bay Horse in the next few weeks, and are putting in new beer lines at a cost of £10,000.

James said they will be continuing the popular events such as quiz nights, as well as pool, darts, dominoes and football teams. It is also planned to have live music events.

James, who has worked at pubs in the East Riding since he was 16, became landlord of the White Hart with his mum about eight months ago.

Villagers from the North Cave pub helped with them with the move into the Bay Horse, and Tracy said they would like to thank everyone for their support.

She also said they are thrilled with the warm welcome they have been given by villagers in Cherry Burton.

"We have had an absolutely marvellous welcome from the villagers. We could not have wished for anything better.

"We have had lots of people coming in and thanking us for keeping the pub open and welcoming us to the village."