Kerosene leak in town forces dentist closure

Adam Butler said the closure reminded him of the coronavirus pandemic

A Shropshire dental practice has had to close due to the "terrible smell" caused by a local kerosene leak.

Butler and Finnegan, in Bishop's Castle, said it had lost five days of work and was only taking on emergency patients because the oil began seeping into its cellar.

The leak happened about a week ago, when heating oil began flowing under a house, the dental practice, and into street drains.

On Thursday, Shropshire Council said the leak came from a heating oil tank at a property uphill from those affected and it had been stopped. However on Friday, it said it was possible the leak was coming from a second source, even higher up.

"Further work is being done today to try to rule this in or out," a spokesperson said.

The authority added that it had no legal responsibility over the issue, and that homeowners were given advice to contact their insurance companies and arrange visits from specialist contractors to find the source.

"We have been getting oil leaking into the cellar through the drainage pipe, and also through the walls," said Adam Butler from the practice.

"Even if the leak stops, we’ve still got a terrible smell," Mr Butler said.

"It's hard on our patients but it's stressful for us, we’re losing a week’s revenue."

A specialist company was called to try and get rid of the smell in the practice

A specialist team is working on eliminating the smell by putting down materials to absorb the oil and using vapour extraction machines.

They said the vapours were on the borderline of what would be considered safe in the short term.

Mr Butler hopes the practice will reopen on Monday, but the decision will need to be made on Friday afternoon.

"We can’t wait until Monday morning, because if we’re going to have to cancel patients we need to give them warning, otherwise it's even more of an inconvenience," he said.

Councillor Ruth Houghton expressed concerns that the oil could have entered nearby water courses, however the Environment Agency said this was not the case.

"We can confirm that the oil has not entered any watercourse or groundwater source and therefore poses minimal risk to the water environment," it said in a statement.

It added that it was working with the local environmental health team.