A man says he feels 'reborn' after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

Martin Jerome, 57, of Wycliffe Gardens, Shipley, will continue to be monitored every three months but the treatment he has received from staff at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust appears to have been successful.

Now, during Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, Mr Jerome is encouraging other men to be checked before it's too late.

It was a notice in Shipley Health Centre in Alexandra Road that prompted Mr Jerome to go for a test.

"The notice urged gentlemen over 50 to get checked out if they were having problems," he said. "I knew there was something a bit odd, but if it hadn't been for that notice I wouldn't have bothered."

Mr Jerome was referred to a urologist who conducted a blood reading to check for a protein called PSA (prostate specific antigen), which can help diagnose prostate cancer. A biopsy showed that he had cancer.

"After all that probing about and one thing or another I felt relieved when they told me it was cancer," he said.

"I knew what it was and what I was up against. It made me feel quite positive. I told my family and friends straight away, I didn't want people whispering about it."

He has his prostate removed and cancerous tissues taken from lymph glands last July. The process took around six weeks.

"I'm not all clear yet, they reckon it will take five years," he said. "But I feel reborn. It is very curable if it's caught in time."

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the UK, with one in 14 affected by it.

While Mr Jerome was undergoing treatment he was put in touch with others who had also experienced prostate cancer. He is now acting as a mentor for others.

He added hospital staff and consultant urologists Tariq Shah and Rajiv Puri and their team had been fantastic.

He also praised the work of Macmillan specialist urology nurse, David Tyson.

Symptoms that indicate a check up by a doctor would be a good idea include: frequent trips to urinate, especially at night; poor urinary stream; urgent need to urinate; hesitancy whilst urinating; lower back pain; and, on rare occasions, blood in urine.