AN INFORMATION bus touring the county to raise awareness about the early signs of lung cancer recently stopped off in the car park of Tesco in Stroud.

The campaign which is being run by Gloucestershire County Council in conjunction with the NHS has a simple message: ‘if you’ve been coughing for three weeks or more, go and tell your doctor’.

With one person diagnosed every day with lung cancer in Gloucestershire on average, GCC and the NHS are keen to offer advice about how to spot its early symptoms.

During the visit of the bus to Stroud on Thursday, September 5, Karen Wickham, Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group’s project officer for cancer, handed out leaflets to shoppers explaining what to look out for.

Although a persistent cough is the most common symptom, there are other symptoms including breathlessness, coughing up blood or a longstanding ache or pain in the shoulder.

Councillor Dorcas Binns, GCC’s cabinet member for public health and communities, said the disease had one of the lowest survival rates because two thirds of patients were diagnosed too late.

"People often expect the symptoms of cancer to be obvious and painful so ignore the early signs. Spotting lung cancer early makes all the difference and we want to make sure people know the most common symptoms, so more lives can be saved."