Patients in West Yorkshire are being made to wait more than six weeks for life-saving tests for bowel cancer.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs hospitals in Dewsbury and Wakefield, is one of several Trusts which failed to meet the NHS standard of less than one per cent of patients waiting more than six weeks.

Mid Yorkshire had one of the highest percentage of patients (13 per cent) waiting more than six weeks for colonoscopy appointments.

And 25 per cent of patients were waiting more than six weeks for a flexible sigmoidoscopy which involves the use of a camera on a cable.

More than 15,900 people die from bowel cancer every year in the UK; it’s the nation’s second biggest cancer killer but is curable, especially if diagnosed early.

Research charity Bowel Cancer UK, which is calling for a national endoscopy strategy, described the figures as disappointing and unacceptable.

A Trust spokesman said: “We have seen an unprecedented increase in the demand for bowel cancer diagnostic testing since June 2016. We are working to improve our waiting times and have a recovery plan in place. We hope to be able to report a much improved position towards the end of the summer.”