A new cross-county constituency along the River Waveney which separates Suffolk and Norfolk now seems set to be created following a rethink by the Boundary Commission for England.

New constituencies are due to be introduced next year which will be used for future general elections - and the recent population growth in Suffolk meant that the county needed an extra half constituency.

In the initial proposals last year a cross-border constituency with Essex, Halstead and Haverhill, was proposed. 

But that has now been dropped in favour of a Waveney Valley constituency including Suffolk towns like Bungay, Halesworth, Eye and Stowupland and bringing in towns from Norfolk including Diss and Harleston.

About two-thirds of the new constituency would be in Suffolk - but the largest town in it would be Diss.

South Suffolk and Ipswich constituencies would remain the same. Suffolk Coastal and Waveney constituencies would lose Halesworth and Bungay respectively to the new seat. The Waveney constituency would also be renamed Lowestoft.

The West Suffolk seat currently held by Matt Hancock would not be greatly changed but Jo Churchill's Bury St Edmunds seat does have some significant changes.

That would lose Needham Market to Central Suffolk and North Ipswich and Stowupland, Haughley and some other villages to the new Waveney Valley seat.

Central Suffolk and North Ipswich would lose about 30% of its acreage to the new seat - but only about 10% of its voters with communities like Eye, Stradbroke and Fressingfield moving into the Waveney Valley seat.

Dr Dan Poulter, who has represented Central Suffolk and North Ipswich since 2010, said: "This proposal is far more logical than the one we had last year. There are already a lot of cross-border connections with people from north Suffolk using Diss and Harleston for shopping and work.

"If this goes ahead I shall be sorry to 'lose' in the north of Suffolk - but I can certainly see what the Boundary Commission is doing.

"I would end up losing about 10,000 voters in the north of Suffolk and gaining about 4,000 in the Needham Market - and that does seem quite logical."

The proposals are now open for public consultation until December 5 and the final decision of the Boundary Commission for England will be handed to the Speaker of the House of Commons by July 1 next year.

If he approves it, the new seats will then come into force - and will be contested in the next general election after then.

The next general election has to be called by the end of 2024 and the latest we could vote would be in January 2025 - but that would involve an election campaign over the Christmas holidays, so most people expect it to be called earlier in the year.