AN MP has secured commitment from the Health Secretary to meet with campaigners.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron secured the agreement of Health Secretary Matt Hancock to meet with members of the Catch Up With Cancer campaign amid fears of a national cancer emergency.

It comes as new analysis from the charity Action Radiotherapy reveals that the backlog of cancer patients still waiting for potentially life-saving treatment could be as high as 100,000.

Mr Farron said: “It is now clear that it would take the system operating at 135 per cent capacity for six whole months just to catch up with where we were in March.

“Until then the tragic reality is that people in my constituency and around the country will unnecessarily be losing their lives.

In response, the Health Secretary said: “We have worked very hard to get through the backlog and we are making progress against that backlog.

“Anything we can do speed that up I’m happy to look at."