Staff at a Suffolk village pub have been given the crowning glory for their work during the COVID-19 lockdowns- an invite to the Royal Coronation Garden Party.

Jane Palmer, landlady at The Oyster Inn at Butley, was shocked to receive an email from Lady Clare, Countess of Euston, the Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, inviting her to the party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, May 9, following the coronation of King Charles III.

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The special invite was sent in recognition of the pub's efforts during the pandemic when the team there delivered 500 free food packages a week to residents who could not get out of their homes, as far afield as Nacton and Felixstowe.

An as yet unknown Butley resident had nominated the pub for the invite and Jane said she hoped to be able to find out who had made the nomination.

East Anglian Daily Times: Lady Clare, Countess of Euston, Lord Lieutenant of SuffolkLady Clare, Countess of Euston, Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk (Image: Clare, Countess of Euston)

She will be joined at the event by her sons Harry and Charlie Parnell, who helped out during the pandemic and Harry's girlfriend Taylor Cutting, who works at the Oyster Inn and will be representing former staff from the time who have moved on, including Todd Losty, Blaize Sagna and Maisie McCarthy.

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Jane said: "We had received a nomination from sombody in Butley who said there should be some recognition for the work we did during the lockdowns and we received the invitation last week. It is amazing that somebody thought to nominate us.

"We had absolutely no clue that we were going to receive the invite. The four of us are going to be attending, so that is fantastic."

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To complicate matters further, the first lockdown was announced days before she took over in March 2020 and initially, there was no furlough or grant support available.

However, she said at that time everyone had to rely on their local services - including the pub - as they could not travel anywhere, so the team ploughed ahead and did everything they could to support local people in need.