THOUSANDS of residents paying a hefty premium for dental care could save cash if a NHS dentist opens in Winsford.

Integrated Dental Holdings (IDH) wants to convert the former Home and Bargain shop Habs in Queen's Parade in Winsford Cross Shopping Centre to a six-surgery NHS dental centre.

The move is sure to be welcomed by patients who have struggled to find a dentist on the NHS and are forced to travel to neighbouring towns or stump up the cash for private treatment.

Residents in Winsford can choose between three surgeries, one of which only treats patients privately.

All are full to capacity and NHS Direct is advising people to travel to surgeries in Runcorn Road in Barnton or Middlewich Road in Crewe for appointments. Emergency treatment is available at Winsford Health Centre and Northwich's Victoria Infirmary on Winnington Hill.

The proposition of NHS dental care has been welcomed by Winsford town councillors, who discussed the proposal informally at Monday's planning committee meeting.

In a letter to councillors tabled at the meeting, agent Masonwood Design said: 'We would ask you to consider that providing a new six-surgery NHS dental operation in Winsford would undoubtedly benefit a huge number of people.'

IDH wants to convert the ground and first floor to provide its dental centre and has an agreement in principle for the lease of the property from shopping centre owner Modus subject to planning permission, though no application has yet been submitted to Vale Royal.

Town councillor Peter Gannon said: 'I give them 100% support if they can give us assurance it will remain a NHS dentist for ten or fifteen years.

'This is for the good of the community.

'We don't want to lose retail units in the town centre to slot machines like has happened in the past, but this is something the community needs in Winsford. We should give it our wholehearted support.'

Cllr Malcolm Gaskill said: 'Queen's Parade is an area of the town we need to develop and we have the medical centre round the corner. If it's an NHS dentist I'm all for it.'

Members of the planning committee suggested that the section of Queen's Parade where the dentists would be housed already offered other services - with a building society, cyber café and youth careers service - so a dentist would not be out of place.

Dentist Dr Ian Jones said: 'It would be perfectly reasonable for each dentist to register 2,000 patients.

'You're looking at the surgery seeing 12-15,000 per year, or around 30 a day.'

Nobody from IDH was available for comment as the Chronicle went to press last night.