SERIOUS concerns are mounting in the heart of the Lakes over claims that thousands of patients will be left without a dentist.
Petitions have been launched urging health chiefs to rethink a decision not to replace Ambleside practitioner Mike Hyne when he retires from NHS dentistry next March.
Campaigners fear many of Mr Hyne's 3,000 patients, and those on his waiting list, will be forced to battle through heavy tourist traffic to attend appointments in Windermere - or not get a place at all.
But the Cumbria Primary Care Trust, which commissions the service, says it is confident everyone will be catered for.
Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who has been busily printing off petitions, said: "The level of access to dentistry is already at worryingly low levels and the news of this closure will not help the situation."
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