Ipswich Town sign Hull City midfielder Jimmy Bullard

Bullard's last Hull appearance was in the 3-2 defeat by Wigan on 8 January

Ipswich Town have signed Hull City midfielder Jimmy Bullard on loan until the end of the season.

Bullard joined Hull for a club record £5m in January 2009 and has scored six goals in 23 appearances.

The 32-year-old former Fulham player becomes Ipswich manager Paul Jewell's first signing since arriving at Portman Road earlier this month.

Jewell told the Ipswich website: "He is a good technician and a good passer of the ball. He's also a great character."

It is the second time that Jewell has signed Bullard, after taking him to Wigan from Peterborough in 2003.

BBC Radio Humberside understands that under the terms of the deal Hull City will continue to pay part of his wages, estimated at £45,000 per week.

"I know Jimmy well from our days at Wigan and he will give us something different in the middle of the park," Jewell added.

"He has played in the Premier League and has a lot of experience."

606: DEBATE I'd much rather we played him, than see another club benefiting from him while we foot most of the bill prideofyorkshire

Bullard's career has been marred by knee problems.

He spent over a year on the sidelines after being injured playing for Fulham at Newcastle in September 2006.

He returned to action in January 2008 and moved to Hull a year later, but Bullard spent a further eight months out of action after being injured on his Tigers debut against West Ham.

On his return later that year, an injury picked up in a collision with Aston Villa's James Milner in December put him out until March 2010.

Having turned down a summer move to Celtic following Hull's relegation from the Premier League last term, Bullard had to wait to be given his chance under new Tigers manager Nigel Pearson.

His first outing of this season came in the 2-0 win over Derby County on 14 September.

However, he has made only eight appearances since that game and was left on the bench for Hull's last two league matches, against Barnsley and Reading.

Under the terms of the loan, Bullard will not be able to play when Hull visit Portman Road on Saturday, 19 February.