Only seven in ten eligible women had a smear tests last year as cervical cancer screening rates hit record low

In the year up to March 2021, just seven in ten eligible women in England were screened for abnormalities in their cervix that can lead to cancer, dropping two per cent on the previous year, NHS Digital figures revealed.

And the rate of women who booked in for a screening ranged from just less than half in Kensington and Chelsea to more than three-quarters in Derbyshire.

Just 3million 25 to 64-year-olds were checked, marking a 5.3 per cent drop on the previous year.

Women aged between 25 and 64 are invited for regular smear tests under the NHS Cervical Screening Programme.

NHS Digital said Covid-related disruption is 'likely' to have led to the drop in women coming forward.

Samantha Dixon, chief executive of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, said the drop is 'not unexpected' due to the havoc wreaked by the pandemic, but it is 'a worry' because it will lead to more cancers that could have been prevented.

Medics have warned cases of all types of cancer have gone undetected due to the effects of the pandemic.

The National Audit Office data showed up to 60,000 people across England who would have been expected to start cancer treatment in March 2020 and September 2021 failed to do so.