Ipswich’s MP Sandy Martin says police, councils and the community need to work together to stamp out knife crime in Ipswich.

Speaking in reaction to the stabbing in Pauline Street in the early hours of yesterday morning, Mr Martin stressed that the public remain safe in the town despite recent incidents.

He said: “I think the level of violent crime is an issue and has been for some time but this is not what Ipswich is about. “At the moment it seems this was a horrible coincidence, I am hoping that’s the case.

“We will need to make sure that people realise the vast majority are not involved and that people are not being randomly stabbed out of the blue.

“There’s a real problem in this town with some of the crime and violent crime that takes place but the vast majority of people are not involved.

“Supt Kerry Cutler is right to say we want the town to be safe and to be seen to be safe.”

However, Mr Martin said there was no quick fix, that it would need authorities to join forces to tackle the problem.

“There is not magic bullet,” he said.

“Lots of people have had plenty of good ideas that need to be done in order to, first, make it more difficult for criminals to operate and secondly to make it easier for those who may be veering that way to lead a more productive and crime free life.

“We need to do both.

“It’s not going to be one single magic bullet.

“That is why it is so important the police, county council, and borough council are all working together.

“The parents who are worried about some of the things their children may be up to.

“Be very careful to make sure your children do not get involved in criminality.”