A NEW surgery could be on the cards for Dulverton patients after initial investigations met with overwhelming support from all corners of the town.

The existing practice at Trumpington House has outgrown the site and the first tentative steps have been taken towards building a modern replacement.

Architects, developers and planners met with representatives from the health authority and primary care trust as well as doctors, councillors and national park members to discuss the viability of building a new surgery.

Although no site has officially been earmarked for the development, there is only a handful of sites suitable for such a project in the town.

The real problem facing the health professionals behind the scheme will be to secure funding from the Government.

But for now, they are concentrating on drumming up community support and looking at the various building design options available to them.

Dr Leonard Burton, of Dulverton Surgery, said some good ideas had already been put forward, including those which accommodated both the medical needs of the staff and the sustainability requirements of the national park.

Of the meeting he said: "There was discussion about the nature of family practice in Dulverton and Exmoor and how our special, isolated, rural location influences the services we provide and how these may be changing as we enter the 21st century.

"This will clearly have an impact on the planning of a new building.

"Excellent contributions by several potential architects and developers made an extremely interesting and thought provoking afternoon and it became clear that each offered different opportunities."

He said he had been "delighted" with the level of support and interest shown in the project so far and added: "Considerable thought and discussion is being given to all these submissions at present and there is a clear will to make this exciting project happen."

West Somerset district councillor for Dulverton, Mike Gammon, welcomed the proposals and said they could only be good news for the town.

He said the existing surgery was no longer big enough for the ever-growing town and surrounding villages and said it was high time Dulverton had a purpose-built practice.

He added: "The surgery has simply outgrown itself and this project will be a wonderful thing for Dulverton.

"Trumpington House was converted from a pub in the 1960s and it is just not big enough for today's needs."