LABOUR MPs are calling on an East Lancashire dentist to repay more than £30,000 of public money he was given to set up an NHS practice three years ago after deciding to go private.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice, Burnley's Peter Pike and Hyndburn's Greg Pope have put down a Commons Motion on the issue following Adam Evans' move to take his Diamond Smiles practice in Barnoldswick out of the public sector.

The move infuriated Mr Prentice who helped him secure £30,500 to set up the NHS surgery in 2001.

But now Mr Evans is to go private leaving 2,540 patients without an NHS surgery and forcing the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust to find premises and a dentist to set up a new one.

A special Commons Motion has now been put down calling on Mr Evans to repay the cash and for the government to support moves to set up a new surgery.

Mr Evans said that he was prepared to support NHS services but the restrictions placed on his practice meant he could no longer provide the "high levels of dental care that we are trained to achieve under the NHS dental system."

The Early Day Motion says: "We express our regret and disappointment at the decision of Adam Evans to abandon NHS dentistry from January 2005 and only offer private treatment from his Diamond Smiles practice in Barnoldswick.

"We understand the shock and dismay felt by many people of the town at the loss to the private sector of a dentist whose NHS credentials were paraded with such a fanfare in 2001 when his practice opened.

"We recall that Mr Evans sought the help and assistance of Pendle MP Gordon Prentice in securing a grant of £30,500 from the NHS to establish the practice, telling him on February 20, 2001 that he felt 'there is a severe need in the Barnoldswick area for NHS dental provision.'

"We believe Mr Evans has let down his patients and public alike after proclaiming so loudly his commitment to the NHS.

"We further believe that he has cynically used NHS funds to help him set up shop in the town.

"We call on him to return the £30,500 to the Primary Care Trust on January 2005 when he ceases to take NHS patients.

"And we urge the Primary Care Trust to take steps to establish a new NHS dental surgery in Barnoldswick to allow those patients at Diamond Smiles who wish to stay with the NHS to transfer across to the new practice."