LUDLOW dentist Aidan Singleton is moving his practice out of the town centre to gain better disabled access and to calm his staff's fears about returning to their cars after dark.

His property in Broad Street is Grade II listed, with a Georgian exterior and a Tudor interior. Mr Singleton explained: "This has worked very well as a 20th century practice but we need space that is more suited to a 21st century practice."

That was the main reason for the move but he was also concerned about staff safety following the introduction of the Parkright scheme in Ludlow last year.

"There are concerns in particular if staff have to go down Friars Walk after dark to reach their cars," he said. Friars Walk is a narrow twisting pathway that connects Old Street with the Smithfield car park.

Mr Singleton's premises in Broad Street are in Ludlow's inner red parking zone. He is now waiting to exchange contracts on a property with its own parking spaces and outside the blue outer zone.

"If we don't get it, we'll look for something else where the new parking laws don't apply," he said.

He has asked South Shropshire District Council for permission to change the use of his surgery into a single dwelling - something it has not been for 25 years.

Meanwhile estate agent Lane Fox has begun to market the three-storey property, which has a 140-foot walled garden at the back and room for four bedrooms and two bathrooms inside.

"Naturally we will inform patients before we move," Mr Singleton said. "I am really almost choked at the concern shown that we might be going."