THE 'shocking' long delays cancer patients are facing in Cumbria to receive life-saving treatment was raised in Parliament.

MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron pointed out in Parliament on Tuesday night that 38.7 per cent of people in south Cumbria have to wait at least two months.

After 62 days, 53.7% of patients were still not getting their 'life-saving' treatment in the north of the county.

Mr Farron said: "The reality in a community like mine is that, throughout south Cumbria, there are around 700 people having to travel each year for radiotherapy treatment to their nearest radiotherapy centre.

"The Rosemere Cancer Centre in Preston in Lancashire is excellent but that is a two, three or four hour round trip for those 700 people."

The MP used the example of Swindon to argue his case, which has recently been granted a satellite unit to assist the 600 patients under its jurisdiction.

"My call is for a satellite radiotherapy centre to be placed at the Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal to serve south Cumbria and to ensure that those people receive the treatment they need," he said.

"We know that, for every four weeks of delay in cancer treatment, one has 10% less chance of surviving.

"I believe that people in rural communities have as much right to have a life ahead of them than those who live elsewhere, yet we have a funding situation that does not treat them as such.”

Mr Farron was speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on Government Support for Rural Communities.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Robbie Moore MP, argued: “We are committed to ensuring that everyone has access to good-quality health and social care wherever they live.

"That is why we are working better and faster to deliver more accessible care in rural areas."

Mr Moore added that satellite units have worked well in certain areas of England and that it was something he would look at with the Department of Health and Social Care.