David Ruffley

AS Ipswich councillors celebrated their unitary success, Suffolk was left to pick up the pieces and try to assess how local government services from Lowestoft to Sudbury and Felixstowe to Mildenhall would be affected.

County council leader Jeremy Pembroke was handed the consolation of hearing Suffolk's Pathfinder bid with the other six district county districts - Babergh, Mid Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal, Forest Heath, Waveney and St Edmundsbury - had been approved by the Government.

However, he was shocked the Government had decided to break up the county.

SUFFOLK residents are considering a journey of more than 80 miles for dental treatment, it has emerged.

People living in Felixstowe have been making enquiries about joining a practice that will open in Bury St Edmunds in two weeks' time, the boss behind the new surgery said.

It comes after the EADT revealed on Monday that just one in eight dental practices in the county are accepting new NHS patients.

THE 142 police community support officers in Suffolk did not issue a single fixed penalty notice in an entire year, it has emerged.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed huge differences between forces for the numbers of fines issued by PCSOs between April 2006 and April 2007.

The officers, who can earn up to £24,500 year, were introduced by the Government in 2003 to provide community reassurance through high visibility patrols.

ONLY one in eight dental practices in Suffolk is accepting new NHS patients - despite claims access to services was greater than ever before, a new survey has found.

Huge swathes of the county have no dentists taking on new adult patients and there are warnings more practices will go private because of a perceived lack of funding.

There are currently just 12 practices in Suffolk whose books are still open to NHS patients, with eight of those either in Ipswich or Haverhill. There are none in towns such as Bury St Edmunds, Felixstowe and Lowestoft.

MPs last night attacked a move by the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) to spend almost £27,000 of taxpayers' money on a policy officer - despite the fact that the body will be abolished in 2010.

EERA yesterday advertised for the post, which will see the successful applicant based at the group's headquarters in Flempton, near Bury St Edmunds.

An MP has said he is hopeful of securing a rethink over plans to move flight paths, following talks with a Government minister.

An attack on Post Office Ltd was launched this week by MP David Ruffley over its "shameful" handling of the closure of Gislingham Post Office.

Dignitaries got together to open the new-look Quaker Meeting House, in Bury St Edmunds, following a £500,000 restoration project.

MP David Ruffley has written to St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Suffolk County Council after meeting members of the Bury Society who are concerned at changes to the town's historic buildings.
The society is worried about the decisions which have led to the selling of the Manor House Museum, the proposed sale of the town's register office and development of West Suffolk House, in Western Way, as the borough moves from its Angel Hill offices to shared facilities with the county.

Local hero Joan Fry has been presented with a certificate at a tea party at the House of Commons.
David Ruffley, MP for Bury St Edmunds, and Stowmarket, chose Joan, from Woolpit, as his local hero.

A volunteer with Mid Suffolk Axis for nearly 20 years, Mrs Fry has also been an active volunteer and fund-raiser for people with disabilities for more than 40 years.

Mr Ruffley said: "Joan Fry is a shining example to us all. At the age of 85 she is still an active volunteer. She is twice as active as some people half her age.