Hundreds of Ayrshire women are missing out on potentially life-saving breast cancer tests, according to new figures.

Shock new figures show that one in four women in the area have failed to attend screening appointments in the last three years.

Now area MSP Sharon Dowey is urging women to turn up when they are invited by their local hospital.

Ms Dowey, a Conservative MSP for the South Scotland region, says that screening helps doctors find early signs of cancer, making treatment simpler and more effective.

According to figures released by Public Health Scotland (PHS), 75.3 per cent of women in Ayrshire and Arran attended their breast screening appointment in the period between 2019-22.

The uptake is below that of health board areas like the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Grampian, Orkney, Shetland and Tayside.

The same figures show only 67 per cent of women living in the most deprived parts of Ayrshire turned up for their free screening, compared to 84.2 per cent living in more affluent areas.

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