Turns aside from area in East Anglian town (9)
I believe the answer is:
distracts
'turns aside' is the definition.
(distract can mean to turn someone from something)
'area in east anglian town' is the wordplay.
'area' becomes 'tract' (tract is a kind of area).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'east anglian town' becomes 'Diss' (Diss is a town in Norfolk).
'tract' placed within 'diss' is 'DISTRACTS'.
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for distracts that I've seen before include "Draws attention away from" , "Diverts" .)