The rebirth of Anglia Retail Park on the north west corner of Ipswich has brought new jobs to the area and boosted shopping choices for local residents said local MP Dr Dan Poulter.

The park is off Bury Road in his Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency – and he said the redevelopment of the site would benefit people from a wide area.

And he thought it could ultimately help to ease the traffic pressure in the town centre by drawing traffic away from the Suffolk Retail Park on London Road.

The future of the Anglia Retail Park looked bleak last summer when DIY giant B&Q closed its huge retail warehouse at the site.

However that has been split into three separate units – the Bounce Trampoline Centre, Go Outdoors and The Range – while B&M and Smyth’s Toy Superstore have opened in other vacant units on the site.

The park is now busier than ever.

Dr Poulter visited the area at the weekend and was impressed by the number of cars he saw on the park.

He said: “I am very pleased to see the number of new facilities that have chosen to move here. It is creating many jobs and shopping choices for people in North West Ipswich and other communities nearby because of the easy access to the A14.

“Certainly this is very welcome for villages on the edge of the town like Claydon and Blakenham – and will be used by people from further out like Needham Market and Stowmarket.”

He said that until now many people needed to go nearer the town centre to the London Road retail park which was notorious for traffic problems. That could eventually be redeveloped for housing.

The North West of Ipswich had sometimes felt like a forgotten part of Ipswich – partly because it was outside the marginal parliamentary constituency and politicians had not always seen it as a priority area.

But he said that this development and plans for new homes and a major new health centre in the area showed that things were improving.

And he did not think the development of the retail park would damage the town centre – pointing out that it had attracted retailers selling the kind of products that were not normally found in town centre stores because they were bulky.