THE Government should step in to stop prosperous areas like Suffolk from "overheating", a report out today warns.The Council for the Protection of Rural England warns the economic divide between England's regions shows no sign of narrowing – and that may even be bad news for booming areas like East Anglia.

THE Government should step in to stop prosperous areas like Suffolk from "overheating", a report out today warns.

The Council for the Protection of Rural England warns the economic divide between England's regions shows no sign of narrowing – and that may even be bad news for booming areas like East Anglia.

House prices will continue to rise, traffic congestion, pollution and noise will get worse and public transport will come under increasing strain.

Parts of the countryside could also be under increased threat, with more pressure to build in Green Belts and the best rural landscapes, according to the report Even Regions, Greener Growth.

CPRE chiefs say such problems may be avoided if the Government tried to even out the economic divide.

Last night David Edmunds, vice chairman of the CPRE, said: "In London, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and right round to Hampshire and along to Oxfordshire, we are getting overheated.

"There is vastly too much traffic, pollution in most of our towns and house prices for everybody are absolutely atrocious.

"People in poorly paid jobs in the south east find it impossible to get onto the housing market and there are also not enough rentable houses for people who can't afford to buy them."