The first clinic in the country dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of bowel cancer will be up and running at Airedale General Hospital by Tuesday.

The Clear Cancer Campaign launched in April by Skipton Rotary Club has raised enough money to fund the clinic that could save up to 50 lives in Craven every year.

Statistics have shown that nationally 30,000 cases of bowl cancer are diagnosed each year and 18,000 of these people die.

However, up until now there has never been a clinic dedicated to the disease which is curable if diagnosed early enough.

Director of Surgery at Airedale Raja Kapadia said that essentially the Airedale clinic misses out the middleman. He found that often people were embarrassed to speak to their GP and would ignore their symptoms for up to a year. He thinks it would be less frightening to make an appointment at a clinic designed specifically to deal with the problems.

Anybody ringing for an appointment will be sent some preparation for the bowel before the visit and then will be examined and asked for a medical history. "It is a potentially curable disease but only if you catch it early enough," said Mr Kapadia.

The campaign for the clinic and improved awareness of the disease was spearheaded by Brian Ludlam, chairman of Ebor Fabrics, Embsay, who contracted colorectal cancer three years ago.

Thanks to early diagnosis he underwent a successful operation. The cancer returned two years later. He had another operation and made a full recovery.

Mr Ludlam decided to promote the importance of early diagnosis and contacted the Skipton Rotary Club to help sponsor the campaign in partnership with Airedale Hospital.

Anybody wanting more information or to book an appointment should call 01535 292342.

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