FELIXSTOWE'S volunteer coast patrol once again proved its value after two young brothers were plucked to safety after getting in trouble offshore.The coast patrol is a vital service over the summer months as the beach fills with holidaymakers and daytrippers.

FELIXSTOWE'S volunteer coast patrol once again proved its value after two young brothers were plucked to safety after getting in trouble offshore.

The coast patrol is a vital service over the summer months as the beach fills with holidaymakers and daytrippers.

However strong a swimmer someone is, there can always be unseen dangers lurking in the waves with currents and undertows.

Saturday's incident with two youngsters getting into trouble in a dinghy showed just what an important role the coast patrol does.

Team members give up their time freely to carry out patrols, and for that they deserve the highest of praise.

Without people like John Cresswell and Jason Farthing being prepared to give their time there could well be a family in Felixstowe today mourning for the loss of their much loved children.

Of course the service has a financial cost as well as a cost in the time given up its volunteers - and that is something that everyone can contribute to.

The whole community owes a debt of gratitude to the service, and there is one family in Felixstowe who now has a special reason to feel thankful for their work.

REORGANISING Felixstowe's secondary education by creating a large 11-16 school for all youngsters in the area alongside a new sixth-form college makes great sense.

Deben and Orwell schools are so close to each other that it should not be difficult for any youngster to move - and having a specialist sixth form centre makes great sense.

With such a variety of A Level subjects and other vocational qualifications on offer, it is increasingly difficult for a comparatively small school sixth form to offer the range of subjects students are looking for.

In Ipswich authorities have already recognised this difficulty with the proposals for the SWISS Centre to be built near Copdock Mill.

By offering a similar arrangement for students in Felixstowe, there is a real chance to raise the academic and vocational aspirations of youngsters from the whole peninsula.

It could also have the benefit of getting rid of the somewhat false division that exists between students from Deben and Orwell schools who may not know each other even though they live in neighbouring streets and take the same route in every day.

PREMA Leathers' garden is a real gem as she grows exotic plants that you don't normally find in a traditional English setting.

Our changing climate must have something to with it - especially now she has grown bananas for the first time.

The crucial change over recent years has, of course, been the lack of really cold winters which in the past would have killed off plants which normally thrive in tropical climates.

The warmer summers have been a bonus for them, but the lack of prolonged winter frosts is what has changed our gardens for ever.