FEARS that the the number of North-East women shunning cancer checks was in freefall have eased with the release of figures.

Health officials on Teesside were concerned that falling attendances for cervical cancer screening sessions looked likely to continue.

But the latest statistics from Teesside show that the percentage of women attending is steady at 81 per cent.

"The good news is that the year-on-year fall in uptake has stopped," said Dr Ken Snider, who is director of the County Durham and Tees Valley Public Health Network and co-ordinator of the screening programme for Teesside.

However, health officials are still concerned that the key 25 to 29 age group is under-represented.

"This is the age group where we can pick up any precancerous changes which could signal that cancer is developing," said Dr Snider.

"At this stage it is easily treated, but if women wait for years it is more difficult to treat."

Last month, Dr Snider expressed concerns that if the trend in declining attendances was to continue, the rates of cervical cancer could be a big problem within a decade.

Concern about long-term trends led to a meeting of representatives from all four Teesside primary care trusts, when it was decided to explore ways of getting the message across to younger women.

One of the suggestions was that more could be done in areas where a SureStart scheme is operating.