SWINDON CANCER APPEAL: People who do not eat enough fruit and vegetables are at risk of cancer, health experts have warned.

One in 10 cancers is triggered by insufficient amounts of fruit and vegetables in daily diets, according to research co-ordinated by the World Health Organisation's International Agency of Research on Cancer.

The group, comprising 22 scientists from 10 countries, claim the study offers the clearest evidence yet that eating more natural produce protects against the disease, especially cancers of the stomach and lungs.

The scientists also found that a higher intake of vegetables appeared to offer greater protection against cancers of the oesophagus and colon-rectum.

Cancer Research UK advocates eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, making sure they are of different colours like beetroot (pictured), spinach and sweetcorn.

Meanwhile, Cancer Research UK is to launch an investigation to determine whether cancer patients in Swindon are benefiting from multi-million pound hi-tech scanners.

A report from the Royal College of Physicians shows that up to 25,000 British cancer patients a year are missing out on state-of-the-art scans that could save lives.

The UK has just four of the £10 million Positron Emission Tomography Scanners PET machines in Southampton, London, Manchester and Scotland.

Susan Osborne, executive director of communications for Cancer Research UK, said: "The nearest one for Swindon patients is Southampton, but even that is a long journey.

"We have to think of the whole person, and not just the fact they are receiving treatment. Sometimes the treatment itself isn't the trouble but the lengthy journeys to and from hospital.

"These machines are a blueprint for the future. Unfortunately they are very expensive which is why there are only four.

"We will be assessing patients' needs to ensure people are getting the treatment they need. The scanners are the shape of things to come."