An MP has highlighted the importance of early diagnosis in cancer patients.

Statistics released by Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group show 69 per cent of people with cancer live for a year after diagnosis.

Although the national average is 68 per cent, the UK lags far behind many other countries which can be as high as 80 per cent.

Edmonton MP Andy Love said: “Around a quarter of all cancers are first diagnosed at A&E which is a clear sign that diagnosis is coming too late and causing us to have poor survival rates.

“Enfield is not underperforming on one-year survival rates when compared to the UK average but there is so much more that we can be doing to get rates up to those of our European counterparts and to save many more lives locally.”

He has written to Enfield CCG to gain information on schemes to local cancer survival rates.