A grandmother who survived bowel cancer says her life was saved by a free test kit.

Denise Ashton, 64, had a life-saving operation to remove a 5cm cancerous growth in January last year and has since been given the all-clear.

But she only found out about the illness after taking a simple kit test in October 2009.

Denise, of Altham, said: “My whole family was devastated when we found out I had the growth as I had been a vegetarian for 21 years, was very active and young for my age.

“If it weren’t for the test I took, I could have gone another 12 months without knowing anything about it.

“If that had happened, it could have breached the bowel and possibly spread to other areas, so the test was a life-saver.”

Denise took the test after her husband Michael took one earlier in the year.

She said: “Michael was fine, but when my results went away they obviously found something wrong with it, so I had to do another one.

“They then did a colonoscopy when they found the growth, so I had to have a scan and I ended up seeing a surgeon the week before Christmas who was absolutely fantastic.

“He told me to go home and enjoy Christmas and then I ended up having it removed in January.

“Since then, I’ve had no chemotherapy and no radiotherapy although I am still having check-ups.”

Bowel cancer is the third most common type of cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the UK.

The earlier it is found, the better the chance of survival – which is why a test kit is routinely sent out to thousands of people aged 60 to 74 across Lancashire, since April 2008.

People can also request a kit if they have never had one before.

Denise, who has one granddaughter, said: “It is pretty terrifying to think of these things. The word cancer really does hit you and of course you never know what’s going to happen, but so far it has been a positive outcome.

“It hasn’t changed my outlook vastly in that I have always thought we live day to day and sometimes you just have to deal with things.

“But we have had friends who have ignored this test and you can imagine the looks on their faces when they heard about what had happened.

“The main thing to say to people is don’t ignore the test as it could save your life. It saved mine.”

If you would like a free tester kit and you are aged 60 to 74, please ring 0800 707 6060.