A SIMPLE blood test that could save lives by detecting signs of bowel cancer at its earliest is being trialled by a surgeon working at a Furness hospital.

Colorectal surgeon Mr Georgios Sgourakis, who is based at Furness General Hospital, has been given £28,163 by charity Rosemere Cancer Foundation to fund his trial, which will run until next spring.

The trial is part of a possible new national screening tool which collaborates with the Biomedical and Life Sciences Department at Lancaster University.

Currently, bowel cancer is the UK’s third most common cancer with about one in 20 people getting it in their life time.

Mr Sgourakis said: "Should this study prove to be successful, it will impose new standards in terms of screening with the blood test either as a stand-alone tool or complementary to what already exists."