'I found out I had skin cancer after BBC campaign'

"It was the best Christmas present to be told the biopsy had come back clear and the cancer was gone - it was marvellous."

Elizabeth Roe kept putting off a "little niggle" she had with a mark on her left shin.

But after listening to BBC Radio Derby's coverage of their Sun Safe events back in June - part of a campaign in memory of former presenter Colin Bloomfield, who lost his life to melanoma - she decided to act.

Mrs Roe, 75, from Spondon in Derby, was later told she had skin cancer but it was caught early enough and received the all-clear after a procedure.

Mrs Roe was listening to Andy Twigge on BBC Radio Derby's breakfast show, who was talking about free skin checks.

They formed part of the station's Sun Safe events as part of a campaign in memory of presenter Bloomfield, who died in 2015.

"I thought it was an ideal opportunity about a little niggle I had about a skin problem - you put these things to the back of your mind," she said.

"I said to myself this needs to get sorted, and there were no excuses to go and see the specialists to get the answers to those niggles."

Mrs Roe attended a skin check event in Chaddesden Park back in May and was referred to hospital for the removal of a skin lesion on her left shin the following month.

The test results came back with confirmation of cancer and a second procedure was booked in to take away more skin to see if it had spread.

But those second set of results returned the all-clear and Mrs Roe now describes herself as "one of the lucky ones".

Mrs Roe is now urging people to get their skin checked if they feel something does not look right.

"It's only due to Radio Derby and the Colin Bloomfield campaign, I owe them all so much, I am eternally grateful," she said.

"I could have still been sitting there thinking I needed to get it checked out.

"I did it, I went through the procedures, although scary at the time, [getting the all-clear] is better than winning the lottery."

In partnership with the charity Skcin, 15,000 primary school children received sun safe lessons and thousands of outdoor workers were offered sun safety training.

Carried out by the dermatology team at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, more than 600 people attended skin checks across Derbyshire and 120 of those were referred for further treatment.

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