A BOWEL cancer survivor wants Dorset residents to pledge their support for a new cancer screening campaign that saves lives - including possibly their own.

Ian Harvey from Shaftesbury is in remission from bowel cancer after his treatment finished in October last year and says he now wants his four sons to be screened for the disease.

The 46-year-old company director and former soldier says he's convinced early detection saves lives, which is why he's backing Cancer Research UK's new Screening Matters campaign, putting pressure on the government to improve screening programmes across the country.

More than 550 people in Dorset are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year and more than half of these are men.

Medical experts want at least three million more people in the UK screened for bowel, breast and cervical cancer during the next five years.

Ian's condition came to light at the beginning of last year after a show of blood suggested a problem.

He'd led a very healthy lifestyle, never smoked and says the diagnosis came out of the blue. Within weeks he'd received surgery and chemotherapy.

"I have returned to work full-time. I play squash and run again. I have check-ups every few months and, at the moment, everything is looking positive," Ian said.

Although his cancer wasn't detected by screening, he's adamant it does save lives.

Four in five people with bowel cancer detected at an early stage successfully recover from the disease, says Cancer Research UK.

The charity says that a bowel cancer-screening programme could prevent some 20,000 deaths in the UK by 2020.

"That's why I want to be among the first to sign a Cancer Research UK Screening Matters pledge card, to put pressure on the government to improve screening programmes across the UK," said Ian.

To back the campaign log on to cancercampaigns.org.uk.