News in Felixstowe

Felixstowe parents are bracing themselves for an increase in the cost of school transport by £90 for those aged 16-18, which is set to be decided next week – despite more than three quarters of Suffolk families saying it would have an impact on them.

One parent who is likely to be among the hardest hit has branded the policy as "killing low income rural families".

The 50th death due to Coronavirus at Ipswich Hospital, was confirmed today

Nick Hulme, chief executive, said five patients had died at Ipswich and one passed away at Colchester, taking the total for both hospitals in the North eases and Suffolk Trust to 105.

Like every area in the UK, all the pubs and bars on the Felixstowe peninsula are closed for now and face an uncertain future.

To help face whatever lies ahead the Save Pub Life campaign has been launched by the Budweiser Brewing Group to allow customers to support their local through the bad times – and get their drinks lined up for the grand reopening.

A plea has gone out to Felixstowe businesses to hand over any spare personal protective equipment they are not using at the moment.

The appeal has been launched by Suffolk County Council for any unused PPE to ensure its critical front-line staff working in care homes, children's homes and people's own homes can continue to give care and support our most vulnerable residents.

Ipswich hospital has confirmed that 19 people have died in two days at Ipswich hospital due to the coronavirus.

This week has been the worst for Suffolk since the hospital, used by many Felixstowe patients, admitted 13 people had died over a three week period, but had not been reported due to an administrative error.

Trimley parish councillors have backed new plans to build five houses in front of the village's 210ft high water tower.

Developers Alston Homes have resubmitted the application after previously failing to provide detailed information in time forcing the m to withdraw the application.

Many locals would have heard about the Felixstowe Docker, they have their own Facebook page with more than 3,000 followers worldwide, they have many hundreds of followers on other social media platforms and their website has had more than 4,600,000 visitors - but who runs it and who is it?

The Felixstowe Docker regularly posts blogs about the goings on at the Port of Felixstowe and other ports around the World.

More than £192million of debt is to be wiped out for the NHS trust which administers hospitals in Felixstowe and Ipswich, among others.

The debt write off is part of a £750m package for the East of England to provide a major financial reset for NHS providers.

Felixstowe GPs have urged people to make sure they still get any health fears checked out by their doctor during the coronavirus lockdown, amid fears that symptoms for serious conditions could be missed.

The Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group, which oversees primary care in the Felixstowe area, admitted that referrals from GPs to hospitals for things such as cancer treatments had "dropped quite significantly".

The owners of The Sandwich Shop in Felixstowe are embracing Easter by donating eggs, free range and chocolate, to charitable causes.

Neville Stein, who owns the shop with his son Will Stein and business colleague Tom Couchman, said: "We made the call to close the sandwich shop during the lock down as we felt this was the best policy to protect our customers and staff.