Saint James Dental Centre, Barrack Street, Norwich. PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY

A Norwich dental practice is expanding to make room for 500 extra patients.

Thorpe Road Dental Practice, opposite the Royal Mail building, will move one mile into the former Sportsman pub on Barrack Street which shut 20 years ago.

The new practice is called Saint James Dental Centre and will open on Monday, December 3.

The move means new NHS patients can be taken on at the practice.

Isobel Hughes, practice manager, said: “We have outgrown our current building so we decided we needed to extend or move premises, as our current location is a listed building and has restrictions over how we can change it.

“We decided a brand new purpose-designed building offered the best solution for our patients.

“Existing patients have been notified of the move through flyers and text messages.

“We’ve even launched a countdown to the move, letting patients know, via text, how many weeks there are left to go.”

NHS Norfolk and Waveney Primary Care Trust (PCT) refused to say how much it cost to turn the building into a health centre as the funding came from private sources and was “commercially sensitive”.

Saint James Dental Centre will have the largest sedation clinic in Norfolk.

Mrs Hughes added: “We will still have the same number of dentists – 14 – but situated in a better environment.”

The Thorpe Road practice will close from Monday for one week during the move.

Patients needing emergency treatment during that can be seen at DenTeam Dental Centre, 527 Earlham Road, Norwich.