"We need to breathe some life back into the town", says Ipswich's MP as another chain leaves the town centre.

High street retailer Joules left the Buttermarket street on January 28, urging customers to travel to its stores in Woodbridge or Bury St Edmunds.

It joins chains such as Patisserie Valerie and H&M that have vacated shops in the town centre in recent months.

Ipswich MP Tom Hunt has said that he finds the situation "frustrating", particularly as there are so many buildings of historical importance in the town.

Mr Hunt said: "I think it is incredibly frustrating how many empty units there are, particularly when we have buildings of historical importance in prominent locations that are just being left empty for so long.

"I know sometimes it can take a while to have some permanent use for these, and we need to be quick off the mark. We need to breathe some life back into Ipswich.

"There are lots of other places experiencing this, with online retail and a change in habits. Ipswich is not alone in being affected by that."

Ipswich Star:

The closure comes as another campaign has been launched for the town to gain city status.

The Ipswich Future City campaign, promoted by Ipswich Central, could support any future bid - either as a possible Coronation City or another future competition.

The campaign argues that becoming a new city could attract "new businesses" as "many national brands aim to have a store or premises in every city in the UK".

The MP opposed the town's city status bid in to mark Her Majesty's Jubilee due to a lack of support from constituents.

Today, Mr Hunt added that there may be "benefits" to a new city status. 

He said: "The debate about that is ongoing. I can certainly see some benefits to it. I think it would be wrong to say it is the solution to our problems. I am not necessarily convinced about that. It might be that it is helpful.

"There would still be some significant challenges that we would have to overcome.

"I think safety is an important aspect of all this. Many constituents have been saying that they have concerns for safety in the town centre.

"If you have a situation where people aren't going into the town centre and not spending money, that needs to be part of the response on a permanent basis - tackling anti-social behaviour and having a police presence in the town centre is needed as well."