Pub and restaurant owners fear jobs will be lost and businesses will close as their taxes and costs rocket.

Landlords, restaurateurs and high street retailers in Suffolk and north Essex are braced for eye-watering rises in their business rates in April.

A three-yearly revaluation by officials at the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) means many have seen a big uptick in their rateable values - based on a theoretical annual rent.

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A pounds and pence multiplier is used to work out how much businesses will pay. Other extra costs they face include a big rise in Employers' National Insurance (NI) which came in in April this year and rises in the Minimum and Living Wage.

Hospitality and retail are large employers and many staff are part-time - which m

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