Ipswich, England ? Fear gripped this provincial port Wednesday after the slayings of five prostitutes, as police hunted for a suspected serial killer and the city and some businesses offered a shuttle service for female workers.

Prime Minister Tony Blair extended condolences to the victims’ families in Parliament. For Britons, the attacks recalled the 1970s, when the so-called Yorkshire Ripper killed 13 women, most of whom were sex workers.

“We support the police fully in dealing with the horror of this situation and also with the entirely understandable fear there is in the community,” Blair told the House of Commons on Wednesday in an address that prompted a debate over changing policies on prostitution. Some legislators suggested legalizing brothels to make work safer for prostitutes.

City authorities and local businesses organized shuttle services to transport women home from work, and the council’s monthly newsletter published a safety message advising women not to walk the streets alone. “Stick together,” it said.

Some businesses also offered female workers special hand-held alarms.

“How is that going to stop someone trying to kill you?” asked Sally Townsend, 55, who works at Marks & Spencer and walks to her job each morning in the darkness that envelops this eastern English city in winter. Once inside the store, she calls her husband to tell him she’s safe.

“We live in total fear,” she told The Associated Press.

Police officers patrol near where prostitutes work in Ipswich, England. Five prostitutes have been found dead in 10 days this month, creating an atmosphere of fear and prompting special safety considerations for women.

The victims, whose naked bodies were discovered over 10 days within a few miles of each other, were all prostitutes. Still, residents saw a more general threat. “Where next?” one newspaper headline said Wednesday.

“Suffolk Strangler,” said another, referring to one of the victims who was found strangled.

“The mood is dark,” said shopkeeper Pat Chamberlain. “You can see it in the faces of the customers. Although they’re shopping, in the backs of their minds, they’re thinking about it.”

The victims included a trainee beautician, a mother of three daughters and an insurance worker. Some fell into prostitution to support drug habits.

The News of the World, a British tabloid, offered a $493,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest.

Before the slayings, about 40 prostitutes worked the street, said Hannah Besley, a town official. “It’s now got to such a critical stage that they are terrified and last night it was very quiet,” she said.