David Ruffley

More than 9,000 people have signed a petition to save rural post offices threatened with closure.
Up to 2,500 branches across the country could be axed as part of Post Office Ltd's Network Change Programme- with fears people in rural communities could lose out as a result.

But customers across West Suffolk have been signing a petition set up by David Ruffley, MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, to keep their services- with one branch collecting 2,000 signatures.

GORDON Brown didn't plan it, but he has done the Conservative Party an enormous favour.

All the talk of an early election concentrated Tory minds, allowed them to paper over the differences of the past few months, and to present a united front to directly challenge the Prime Minister to call a poll.

Many commentators - and I include myself in this group - believed Blackpool would witness another round of Tory bloodletting.

MAGISTRATES were last night accused of being too lenient after handing down a one-year driving ban to a teenager whose friend ended up in a coma after 'car surfing' on his bonnet.

The 17-year-old A-level student was arrested for dangerous driving following a disastrous prank on the top floor of the Parkway car park in Bury St Edmunds in June.

The student, who cannot be named, admitted the offence before St Edmundsbury magistrates on Wednesday and was banned from driving for a year, given a six-month referral order and ordered to pay £55 costs.

A POPULAR Suffolk museum's bid to raise £5.3million towards a major development programme was today given the backing of one of the county's MPs.

The Museum of East Anglian Life (MEAL) is attempting to secure funding of £1.7 million from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), which will be used to transform the Stowmarket site into a major cultural and educational centre.

The museum has already submitted a funding bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for £2.9 million and is well on the way to raising the remaining cash.

THE number of patients treated in accident and emergency at a Suffolk hospital has increased by more than 40% in the past decade, new figures reveal.

Last year more than 45,000 people were rushed into the unit at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.

This is up nearly 12,000 compared with 1997, when 32,417 people were admitted to the hospital's accident and emergency.

FRESH calls have been made for urgent safety improvements along a notorious Suffolk road after it was labelled one of the top five most dangerous in the county.

New figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the A143 - which runs from Haverhill to the Norfolk border near Diss - has claimed the lives of 15 people since 1997.

Bury St Edmunds MP David Ruffley, who requested the statistics as part of an investigation into road safety along the A143, said the new information gave even more sway to the need for improvements.

A FUNDING boost of nearly £60million will make a Suffolk college one of the region's leading institutions, it was claimed last night.

All but three of the buildings at the West Suffolk College campus in Bury St Edmunds will be knocked down as part of a wholesale redevelopment scheme earmarked to begin next year.

Last night, it emerged the college can go ahead with the scheme, which has been in the planning stage for the past two years, after the Learning and Skills Council agreed to pay £58m of the £78m project cost.

FESTIVE cheer was restored to a Suffolk town last night as its 'best ever' Christmas lights display was switched on - marking the end of a bitter row which almost saw the illuminations sold off.

It was feared last year's decorations in Bury St Edmunds would be the last thanks to the row over the cost of decking out its cobbled streets - which came to a head when the town council agreed to put the lights up for sale.

A TOWN which feared losing its Christmas lights forever has been promised the best display of all time by event organisers.

Hundreds of residents and visitors are expected in Bury St Edmunds for the turning on of the festive lights on Thursday.

Last year, it was feared it could lose the lights because the town council decided it could no longer afford to manage them on its own.

It claimed the cost of maintaining, storing and putting on the event was costing about £50,000 each year and voted to sell them off unless anybody came forward to take them on.

Road chiefs have been criticised for putting people's lives at risk over problems with a newly-opened section of the A14.