THOUSANDS more people in Stoke-on-Trent are to be given a new NHS dentist following a £1.3 million initiative by the city's primary care trust.

The PCT is to let two contracts to bring around eight more dentists to areas hit by the worst tooth decay.

The contracts – worth £650,000 each – will go out to tender in the next two weeks, with new practices scheduled to open in the Autumn.

The PCT has already created a new practice which opened in Shelton last November.

The first practice now being planned will serve people in Hartshill, Penkhull, Stoke and Trent Vale. The second will cover Berry Hill, Bentilee and parts of Hanley.