MP Gordon Prentice, has congratulated the University of Central Lancashire on being awarded funding to increase the number of dentists in the region.

Thanks to a £13 million grant, 32 students will be starting a new graduate-entry Dental Surgery course in 2007.

He said: "This is great news and shows the commitment by the Department of Health and local universities to tackling the shortage of dental provision.

"A further benefit is that students often stay in the area that they have trained in.

"Where dentists train, dentists remain."