LONG work hours and the 'taboo' nature of the subject are stopping people undergoing life-saving bowel cancer screening, doctors have said.

A team at the John Radcliffe and Horton General Hospitals is calling on all patients aged over 55 to take up their offer of a test as part of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month.

But just 60 per cent of people in Oxfordshire are regularly using the old method of testing, and a new type of screening established in 2015 has just a 45 per cent uptake.

Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK and is diagnosed in more than 41,500 people every year.

Terry Tran-Nguyen, manager of the hospitals trust's bowel cancer screening programme, said: "The early stages of bowel cancer are usually asymptomatic.

"You are unlikely to notice anything. When you start experiencing symptoms you're already in the late stages and it may spread to other organs.

"Prognosis is much better if we diagnose bowel cancer in the early stages."

Traditionally people aged 60 and over are invited to take a Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT), which looks for traces of blood in faeces, every two years.

The new Bowel Scope Screening Test is currently being rolled out across the NHS and sees all those aged 55 and over invited for a 20-minute test with a sigmoidoscope, a bendy tube with a light and a camera on the end, to look inside the bowel to find and remove polyps which could turn into cancer.

Despite the effectiveness of the test, which can reduce deaths by up to 43 per cent, less than half of those offered it are currently attending the JR for treatment.

Mr Tran-Nguyen said: "With FOBT, it requires you to take a poo sample, which culturally can be a bit of a taboo thing to do.

"Also it might be down to people just not understanding or having the time.

"With the new programme the, most people are still in the workforce so it's more challenging to take an afternoon to come into hospital and test.

"No-one likes an invasive test that they don't have any symptoms for, but actually it's more comfortable than people anticipate."

Among those to undergo the new test since its launch is Sergei Dudarev, 55, a visiting professor at Oxford University.

He said: "They discovered a slight abnormality so I had a small operation to remove it. Once removed, it showed it contained malignant cells.

“This was so unexpected as I had been feeling fine in every respect. Within two weeks of the operation I was able to do gardening and within a month travel overseas.

"The successful outcome of my case was entirely due to the early detection and diagnosis. The screening programme is certainly worth investing an afternoon of your time to ensure a long and happy life for many years to come."

For more information on the screening programme call the hub on 0800 7076060.