Figures from the East of England Ambulance Service, external show there's been a 19% increase in reported violence, external against staff, in the year 2015-16.

The service says there were 232 physical assaults, compared to 195 in 2014-15, with criminal sanctions brought against 66 people.

Chief executive Robert Morton said: "It is appalling that some people are violent towards our staff when they are trying to help and provide the best possible care to patients.

"One assault against a colleague is one too many."

Graeme Mac
BBC Radio Suffolk sport

Adam Webster will definitely miss Ipswich Town's clash with Nottingham Forest this weekend, and is also a doubt for the QPR match on Saturday week.

Image source, Getty Images

The 21-year-old suffered a hamstring problem during the 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday, and manager Mick McCarthy says he won't be rushed back.

"He's been excellent for us and I've told him that this morning, because his head's been a bit down now that he's injured," McCarthy said.

"We hope he can make QPR, but there is no way in the world I will be risking him. 

"If you come back too early from a hamstring strain you can miss another six weeks."

Graeme Mac
BBC Radio Suffolk sport

Kundai Benyu will be in the initial 20-man squad ahead of Ipswich Town's match at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Image source, itfc.co.uk

The 18-year-old recently apologised, external to manager MIck McCarthy for an attitude problem, and McCarthy says the pair have shaken hands and moved on.

"I've been delighted with him. I'm not precious about myself but he really needed to apologise," McCarthy said. "He'd been letting himself down.

"We've shaken on it and now he's training with the first team more often, but I won't have the tail wagging the dog wherever I go."

Suffolk County Council, external says Autism Suffolk , externalwas aware its funding, which has been reduced year-on-year, would be withdrawn, but that it hadn't taken up an offer of help to find alternative sources.

The Conservative councillor responsible for health, Tony Goldson, said: "We have officers who will help them find other funding streams, but they have not come forward and asked for our help. 

"We are actively wanting to support them and help them, but when we haven't got the money ourselves, we are limited on what we can do."

Kelly McCormack
BBC Radio Suffolk

More than 1,200 people have signed a petition against the closure of a charity which supports children, parents and families of those affected by autism.

Autism Suffolk, external has announced it will close next month, partly blaming it on a loss of funding from Suffolk County Council, external.

Image source, Science Photo Library

Matt Porter, whose family is one of those currently receiving support, said: "It is a really, really poor decision to withdraw funding for yet more vulnerable people."

Kelly McCormack
BBC Radio Suffolk

A Lowestoft woman, who has started an online petition after hearing that an autism support charity is closing next year apparently due to a loss of county council funding, has been explaining how vital the service is.

Image source, Hannah Gal/Science Photo Library

Claire Kingaby Lewis said Autism Suffolk, external "were there when my son first got his diagnosis four years ago, when we as a family were very, very overwhelmed and they've continued to be a fantastic support".

"They're there on the phone, they're there on the email, they're there on Facebook, you can't say enough about the things they do for the families," she added.

Guy Campbell
BBC Radio Suffolk

A man is being treated in hospital for the effects of breathing in smoke, after a house fire in north Lowestoft early this morning.

The 62-year-old was found unconscious in a bedroom at the terraced property in Seago Street, just after 05:00.

The firefighter in charge told me the man had a "very lucky escape", and that if the fire service had found him just a few minutes later, they could have been dealing with a "much more serious" situation, maybe even a tragedy.

Two men have been jailed after being convicted of drugs offences, following an incident in Ipswich in January which resulted in one of the men escaping and being pursued across Ipswich town centre.

Officers stopped two men in a car on Waterworks Street on the evening of Monday, 4 January.

As one of the men was being taken into custody, he ran off and was eventually recaptured while attempting to climb over a fence on Upper Barclay Street off Upper Orwell Street.

Image source, Suffolk Police

The route that Charles Oryema, pictured right, had taken was searched by officers, who found a bag containing a large number of wraps, and an amount of a powdered substance which were found to be heroin and crack cocaine worth an estimated £2,500.

Laurence Obasogie, 27, of the Denmark Hill Estate in south London, and Charles Oryema, 29, of Thornton Heath in Surrey, were sentenced for four years and six months, and four years respectively, when they appeared at Ipswich Crown Court earlier this week.

Insp Gary Miller said: "The careful retracing of the route taken by Oryema when he tried to escape, through many areas which were not well-lit, was particularly crucial due to the discovery of the drugs he tried to dispose of."

Ipswich Star

This is the front page of the Ipswich Star, external:

Image source, Ipswich Star

East Anglian Daily Times

Here's the front page of the East Anglian Daily Times, external:

Image source, EADT

Brenner Woolley
BBC Radio Suffolk sport

Suffolk's Peter Wright is through to the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts , externalfor the first time after a 10-3 win over Darryl Fitton.

Image source, Getty Images

The number five seed, who's based in Mendham, claimed eight successive legs to set up a clash with 16-times world champion Phil Taylor."I still know there's more in the tank," said Wright. "I thought I was terrible, but I set myself high standards and I didn't meet them tonight.

"I'm not just happy with going through, I want to do to people what Phil Taylor did years ago, and that's why I'm coming off annoyed. 

"I have some great battles with Phil and it should be another one on Friday."

It's been revealed that if Ipswich Hospital doesn't change the way it works, it could be facing a financial shortfall of £100m.

The "Draft Trust Strategy" report, which has been seen by BBC Suffolk, says demand for services for the over-60s is expected to rise by almost 14% by 2021.

Chief executive Nick Hulme said: "We need to move the money out of hospitals into primary care, into community care. 

"We need to be talking to social care... encouraging families to be more involved in people's care. [We need] people to take responsibility for their own care."

This afternoon a separate report is due to be published - the region's Sustainability and Transformation Plan which will set out the future for our local hospitals and how they're funded.

If you didn't know, today is Guinness World Records Day, when new records are set and broken.

Our colleague Luke Deal, well-known in the BBC Suffolk office as a huge Abba fan, bravely attempted, live on-air, to identify the most Abba songs from their lyrics in one minute.

Here's what happened:

Ipswich Hospital, external has revealed it's facing significant challenges from a growing and ageing population needing more medical help.

But its chief executive Nick Hulme has tried to reassure patients, saying: "We're not talking about closing services, we're talking about changing services.

"The important thing for me is that we're honest about the growth we're going to see, people are living longer but also people are sicker, so we need to make sure that we're supporting people with long-term conditions, supporting the frail and elderly, as well as not forgetting children and maternity services."

A report looking into the future of the service is due to be published this afternoon.

Kate Kinsella
BBC Look East weather

After a mild start, cold weather will feed in during the course of the day.

There'll be blustery showers, which could contain hail and thunder this afternoon, and also some sunny spells.

A cold wind means temperatures will struggle to reach a maximum of 10C (50F).

Watch my full regional forecast here:

Brenner Woolley
BBC Radio Suffolk sport

Bury Town, external missed out on going joint top of the Ryman North Division, external as they were beaten 3-1 at Ram Meadow by Witham Town last night.

It's a third straight defeat for Ben Chenery's men, who remain third in the table ahead of Saturday's home game against Haringey Borough.

Ipswich Wanderers', external FA Vase run is over after a 2-0 defeat at FC Romania in their re-arranged second round tie.

Philippa Taylor
BBC Local Live

Welcome back to our live coverage.

The chief executive of Ipswich Hospital is warning they're facing significant challenges in delivering care, because of an ageing population which needs more medical help - we'll bring you more details on that.

There's also worrying news for people who are supported by Autism Suffolk, external, who've announced they'll have to close next March after the county council withdrew its funding.

Weather prospects are on their way too, but first here's a fabulous photograph of autumn colours in Theberton near Leiston, taken by BBC Weather Watcher "Lolli":

A clergyman is charged with eight voyeurism offences after men were allegedly filmed in public toilets.