A major doctor’s surgery is being moved almost two miles down the road from next January.

The Heathway Medical Centre, which has a patient list of 3,000 people, is located at the top end of Heathway in Dagenham but will move to St Martin’s Vicarage in Goresbrook Road.

The move is due to the lease on the Heathway property expiring in January 2014 and the owners are unwilling to extend it.

St Martin’s Vicarage is currently a five-bedroom detached house and its conversion will require two side extensions, an external staircase and an access ramp.

No parking zone is being added but there are 41 spaces nearby in Goresbrook Road shopping parade that allows two hour stays.

Planning permission was granted at a Development Control Board meeting on May 28 at the council.

Despite the proposals meaning the loss of a family house, councillors decided there were wider healthcare benefits to residents.