THE landlord and landlady of a village pub on the Shotley Peninsula will have some months to wait before they learn whether they can buy it or not.Kevin Dale and Maggie Bennett's future has been in limbo for more than a year, while planners and owners Pubmaster decided the fate of the Baker's Arms, Harkstead.

THE landlord and landlady of a village pub on the Shotley Peninsula will have some months to wait before they learn whether they can buy it or not.

Kevin Dale and Maggie Bennett's future has been in limbo for more than a year, while planners and owners Pubmaster decided the fate of the Baker's Arms, Harkstead.

Last month Babergh District Council's development committee finally approved revised drawings for a cottage to be built on part of the land by an Ipswich-based potential purchaser, Merchant.

However, the decision left Mr Dale and Ms Bennett no clearer about Pubmaster's intentions.

Now a spokeswoman for Pubmaster has confirmed that the company is waiting for completion on the sale of the part of the pub's land, which has planning permission.

Once the sale is complete, she said, the company will then decide on its plans for the pub.

Last night Mr Dale said he and his partner had now decided to stay at the pub t until they knew what price Pubmaster wanted for it.

He said: "We'll hang on here until it goes on the market and see how much they put it up for. If the price is right we would still like to buy it."