A LEADING Bromsgrove councillor has urged more women to get tested for breast cancer after beating it herself in a "lucky" escape.

Conservative Cllr June Griffiths, the former chair of Bromsgrove District Council and now councillor for Alvechurch South, decided to go for screening three years ago after seeing a random poster in a GP surgery.

The pensioner, who is over the age for routine testing, was diagnosed at a very early stage of breast cancer and had a mastectomy to remove it.

Cllr Griffiths, who is also the vice-chair at Worcestershire County Council, told the Advertiser she wanted more people to be aware of the need to have a mammogram - the x-ray to detect the disease.

The national NHS breast screening programme invites all women aged between 50 and 70 to do the test once every three years.

But those either side of that age range are not automatically invited, although health bosses do say they should have the test once 'every few years', although the vast majority of women do not bother.

Cllr Griffiths said: "I happened to see a poster while I was sat in the doctors' surgery, and thought I'd better go and do it.

"I was very lucky, my breast cancer was detected early enough and it was contained, so I had one operation, a mastectomy, and a reconstruction and it was all sorted.

"I was over the age to be called for a mammogram, I just happened to see that poster, which was taken down a few days later.

"Anything I can do to raise awareness of this, I will."

She has also voiced her anguish over Government guidelines where NHS trusts are only required to first treat people within 62 days after a suspected diagnosis.

"I am very proud of the NHS, but I'm also critical because I want to make it work better," she added.

"When I was diagnosed with cancer I wouldn't have waited 62 days - that's two months.

"When you are told you have cancer you begin to plan your own funeral, it's a death sentence."

Cancer Research UK says early screening reduces the number of deaths by about 1,300 a year across Britain.

Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer at the earliest possible stage have a 90 per cent chance of surviving for at least five years after diagnosis.

There are 15,500 breast cancers diagnosed through screening in the UK each year.

Ministers are in talks with health chiefs over extending the programme so all women aged 47-73 are invited to take part every three years.