Fears grow over prostitute deaths

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The murder of two Suffolk prostitutes, the death of another and fears over two more missing women dominate the papers.

The Sun and the Daily Mail ask the same question: How many more victims are there of what most papers are calling the Suffolk Ripper?

The Times says police are hunting Britain's worst serial killer of prostitutes since Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper.

One prostitute told the Guardian sex workers are unlikely to talk to police.

Police closures

The Daily Telegraph leads with a report highlighting the closure of 900 police stations in England and Wales.

The paper used Home Office figures to assess the scale of the closures over the past 14 years.

It also surveyed some of the stations which remain in use - and found that the vast majority are open only for a limited time.

Of the known 880 closures, the paper says, 516 were under Labour and 364 under John Major's Conservatives.

Spy honoured

There is also praise for the woman the Gestapo called the most dangerous spy in France during the World War II.

The Daily Mail explains that Virginia Hall slipped back and forth between London and France creating havoc behind German lines.

The American, who had lost a leg in a pre-war accident, is being honoured 24 years after her death.

The Times reports that her bosses in London gave Miss Hall's wooden leg the codename "Cuthbert".

Christmas tills

Shoppers are walking the streets with increasing enthusiasm, according to the Financial Times.

It says retailers have been cheered by increased sales figures in the second week of December.

But customers should watch out if they are buying toys for young children.

Several papers including the Daily Mirror have quoted research by audiologists that says youngsters' hearing could be permanently damaged by noisy presents, such as toy guns.