Women breast cancer patients have been telling of their experiences in Bradford in the wake of a highly-critical BBC Panorama programme which alleged many had not received the best available treatment.

Many applaud the programme for highlighting concerns about care in the late 1980s and 1990s, but many others say they believe the documentary got it wrong.

The programme alleged Bradford Royal Infirmary might have put about 150 women with breast cancer at risk by failing to give them a crucial second stage of treatment - radiotherapy.

As a result, it said, they faced a greater risk of cancer returning and the disfigurement of a mastectomy, the very thing their treatment was intended to avoid.

The allegations are refuted by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which now runs BRI and St Luke's Hospital. Bosses say the programme was based on "flawed" and "unreliable" evidence.

The Trust set up a helpline staffed by breast care nurses to allay fears some women may have had after the programme on Sunday. There were 40 calls on Monday and 15 yesterday.

One woman who phoned for help was Patricia Morrell, 46, a former Bradford nurse, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990 aged 30 and had to have a mastectomy when the cancer returned four years later.

"This programme came as no surprise to me," she said. "I cannot believe this has taken 11 years to be made public. I would imagine every woman in Bradford would have been disturbed by what they have seen.

"I am well now but I know a lot of women who were on the wards who did not survive."

Mrs Morrell said she waited until two years ago to have reconstructive surgery as she feared a return of the cancer.

She says that fear is now as strong as ever after the broadcast and she contacted the helpline.

"They say that even if the hospital was working to proper standards I still would not have been given radiotherapy as my type of cancer was not invasive and not life-threatening, but I should have been given the facts in 1990."

Mrs Morrell may now be offered a meeting with a consultant to review her case.

Paula Eccles, 62, of Woodside, Bradford, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989 by Dr Jeff Price, the surgeon named in the programme.

She said: "He was fantastic and I could not have asked for a better surgeon or better information.

"Everything was explained to me and I was given the option of a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. As I had a small child aged ten I opted for a mastectomy as I knew it was the best way for me to be cleared of cancer.

"I had no chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which was a shock at the time but it was explained to me that I would not need it.

"In my view, I was given every option so it was my decision. I was irate when I saw the allegations because I think the team saved my life and many other lives in Bradford."

Charlotte Cramby, 78, of Wrose, was a patient of Dr Price in 2000 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She was offered a lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy or a mastectomy.

She did not want radiotherapy so opted for a full mastectomy. "I have had no trouble since," she said. "I went every 12 months for examinations and was on Tamoxifen for five years and I am fine. As far as my treatment went I have no complaints."

But Cecilia Lindley, 58, was awarded £38,000 out of court after her experience at BRI in 1983. The then Yorkshire Regional Health Authority made the award without admitting liability.

She had a breast removed after doctors told her she had cancer, without giving her a biopsy, only to discover her ailment was plasma cell mastitis, an easily treated problem.

She said: "I thought it was good that the Panorama programme aired the problem."

The helpline is (01274) 365922.