KNIFE crime is a blight on society - a string of fatal stabbings in London recently have highlighted the concerns over the issue in the capital. The death of Ben Kinsella over the weekend put more of spotlight on the issue, and on the dangers faced by young people growing up in the capital.

KNIFE crime is a blight on society - a string of fatal stabbings in London recently have highlighted the concerns over the issue in the capital.

The death of Ben Kinsella over the weekend put more of spotlight on the issue, and on the dangers faced by young people growing up in the capital.

Now, however, it looks as if more youngsters in Ipswich are also carrying knives as a matter of course - and this week's incident in Holywells park is especially concerning.

Teenagers tell themselves that they start carrying knives to give themselves, but the danger is that if tempers flare and a knife is easily at hand it is then all too easy to be tempted to brandish it - and then possibly use it in the heat of the moment.

A few seconds later they may regret their rash action . . . and have to live with those regrets for the rest of their lives.

What is needed is firm action now to tell our young people that carrying a knife is illegal, unnecessary, and dangerous.

Ipswich does not have a serious knife problem - compared with London, Manchester, and other major cities there is no serious gang culture here and not a great number of stabbing incidents.

It is vital that we keep it that way in our town and in our county - to prevent gang and knife culture becoming endemic in this part of the world.

IPSWICH Town's fans are starting to ask themselves whether there will be any exciting arrivals at Portman Road before the start of the season.

Or will Ipswich be relying on last season's strike force of Jon Walters, Alan Lee, Pablo Counago and Danny Haynes once the big kick-off arrives next month?

Jim Magilton is calling on fans to “be patient” which normally means that the manager doesn't know what will happen himself! We had the same comments this time last year.

What is different in 2008 is that Marcus Evans owns the club - and will be looking for signs of major progress towards the promised land of the Premier League.

Talk of a “foreign striker” arriving will not excite too many people. No one is talking about a Ronaldinho or David Villa arriving at Portman Road!

The arrival of Gareth Macauley should help shore up the leaky defence that has been a problem for years, and a new goalkeeper remains a priority - but exciting transfer news seems pretty rare at Portman Road these days.

YET again the two authorities controlling services in Ipswich seem incapable of talking to each other.

This time the lack of communication between Ipswich council on one side of Russell Road and the county on the other has led to the town missing out on part of a multi-million pound bonanza to develop new cycle routes around the town.

With each council blaming the other for this monumental foul-up, the people of Ipswich - and especially the cyclists - are the big losers.

If they are unable to co-operate over such an obviously beneficial offer, heaven help the town if there is a major controversy blow up.

The sooner both authorities are replaced by a single council for the town, the better.