A landlord who put his pub on the market and urged punters to “use it or lose it” says he’s determined to keep going after a swell of support.

The Wheatsheaf in London Road, West Malling, reopened to the public earlier this month, having been run as a private members’ club since the end of the pandemic.

But that same week it was put up for sale, with landlord Terry Cronin saying the bleak financial situation could force him to walk away from the business his family has run for three decades.

He said he’d be “gutted” to leave it, and his message to customers past and present was to vote with their feet if they wanted to keep it going.

Since then he says reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, with more customers coming in and others voicing support on social media.

"I've got to say a lot of them have been coming down," said Terry, speaking at the pub this week.

"There's been a few since when the news hit Sunday week, then on Thursday, Friday and Saturday there were people coming in I hadn't seen before.”

Among the new faces were a couple from Yalding who had read the KentOnline article and knew Mr Cronin’s father from the time he ran the Cock and Monkey pub and the Blacksmith's in Rotherhithe.

“They've been down three times now," he added.

"My barometer would be next weekend where I haven't got a private party, and it's a normal weekend."

While some of the boost in trade could be due to the start of the football season, it's hoped a combination of returning regulars and new customers will help the Wheatsheaf bounce back.

A new menu has also received positive feedback and there are further plans to expand it, bringing back roast dinners next month.

And although Terry says he's faced some criticism on social media for having attempted running the pub as a members’ club, most have defended his efforts to keep it going.

"It was a members’ bar for one year," he explained.

"Other than that, for the 30-odd years we've had it, it's just been a pub.

“With the members’ plan, I pulled something out of the hat to try something different, and I thought if it worked it could be a good thing. It had a negative effect so I thought ‘ok, we'll do something different. We'll move on’."

Meanwhile, Terry said support for the relaunch had given him a personal boost – and although the pub's still for sale, he's committed to making it work as a business.

"As far as I'm concerned this is still our pub, our business" he added.

"I'm on a positive note now, rather than in June when I was on a downer. I was thinking ‘you know what, if someone comes up with whatever offer, I'll just pay the debts and I'm off’.

“Now I'm more mentally ready to go with the business and I'm cracking on with it. I wake up in the morning and think 'let's go'.

“It's still up for sale – if someone comes up with a stupid offer then fair enough, but it's still our pub, it's still a Cronin pub and we're cracking on with it.”