HEALTH bosses and an MP today welcomed plans to fill East Lancashire's NHS tooth care "black hole" and attract more dentists to the area.

But they appealed to council bosses to help overcome parking problems which could thwart the scheme.

Dr Shane Morgan plans to open a practice in Burnley Road, Rawtenstall, across from St James Health Centre and pharmacy, which as well as providing NHS care will train new dentists.

The news comes weeks after a new NHS practice opened in Burnley, and a mobile practice opened in Barnoldswick, in an attempt to tackle the massive shortage of dentists locally. If successful , the scheme means there will be NHS dentists taking on new patients in Rawtenstall, two in Burnley and one in Pendle.

Rossendale MP Janet Anderson claimed the situation in the area reached crisis point earlier this year, with practices going private because of the heavy NHS workoad and dentists preferring to work in areas with lower levels of tooth decay.

Dr Morgan, who already

practices in Manchester and London, said: "There are 50,000 people in the area with no NHS care. We've decided to open a clinic and the only way to reduce this burden is to train more dentists.

"After people graduate they can train here and then go and work in outlying areas.

"The property we've got is opposite a doctor's surgery so we can cross-reference patients to the doctors and can have a screening clinic for oral cancer."

Dr Morgan, who is 30 and currently lives in Manchester but would move to the area if the practice went ahead, hopes it could provide dental care for at least the next ten to 15 years.

Funding would be part private and part NHS and Dr Morgan estimates it would cost around £400,000 to set up.

He added: "The only problem is the highways authority as there are single yellow lines outside the building."

But Mrs Anderson has given the plans her full backing and is appealing to Rossendale council to resolve this either by removing the yellow lines or allowing users of the surgery to to use some of the health centre parking spaces.

Mrs Anderson said: "I'm absolutely delighted that he wants to establish NHS dental practice in Rossendale. This is desperately needed and I would urge Rossendale Borough Council to do everything they can do to support this. In the whole of Rossendale there's not a single dentist taking on NHS patients.

"The situation is dire at the moment. I've raised it at Parliament and the minister who responded said we should do as much as we can to encourage NHS dentists into the area."

Dr Gary Whittle consultant in dental health for East Lancashire has pledged to support Dr Morgan said: "There is a great problem recruiting dentists to come and work in East Lancashire. In my opinion when people spend five years training they tend to stay around the dental school they trained in.

"We don't have any training schools in East Lancashire and the nearest one is in Manchester."

David Hartley senior planning officer at Rossendale said no plans had been received for the practice but they would be considered in the normal way.