A DENTAL practice is to close later this month after managers tried in vain for 18 months to recruit dentists.

City Health Dental wrote to patient Andrew Collingwood to say its practice in Market Place, Pocklington, would be closing on July 31.

It said: "Although we would very much like to be able to carry on providing dental services in Pocklington,unfortunately we have been unable to recruit dentists to work in the practice, despite trying for the past 18 months.

"Urgent dental care will be available at City Health Dental in Driffield or Beverley for patients who have attended our services within the last eight weeks and you are invited to join a waiting list for standard treatment at another centre.

"We are very sorry to have to take this step, and have done everything we can to avoid it, but the situation has become untenable."

It suggested that if Mr Collingwood wished to source an NHS dentist, he should use the NHS UK website which showed practices accepting new patients.

Mr Collingwood said none of the other dental practices in Pocklington was accepting NHS patients."I've tried practices within 20 miles and still not found one accepting new NHS patients," he added.