A mother who beat breast cancer said she is heartbroken to hear officials expect people to travel more than 30 miles for life-saving cancer treatment.

Rose Booth, 44, of Bury Street, Ruislip, discovered a lump the size of a pea in her breast in the summer of 2000 and 10 days later was diagnosed with cancer.

She was treated at Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood and is now appalled by health officials’ plans to move the cancer services out of the borough.

Mrs Booth, a personal assistant, said she was lucky to live only five minutes drive from the hospital and that her husband, Alan, 46, was able to take her to and from each appointment.

She said: “I only live a five minute car journey from Mount Vernon and I was lucky that I had my husband, sister and friends to drive me there, sit with me, and drive me back home.

“The trouble with chemotherapy and radiotherapy is that it’s cumulative – it builds up in your system. After the first treatment you may not feel bad, but after the third you can really be starting to show signs of fatigue.

“When having my chemotherapy, it was upsetting to see what it was doing to some people and how sick it was making them. To expect those poor women to make this journey after having treatment is heartbreaking.

“What if you have not got anyone who can drive you there or pick you up? How are patients going to cope then?”

Mrs Booth had an operation to remove the lump in her breast and then went to the hospital for chemotherapy twice a week every two weeks, for six months.

She said on one occasion nurses were unable to find a suitable vein in her arm to inject preventative drugs and she spent from 8.30am to 5.30pm at the hospital.

Mrs Booth said: “How would you deal with a journey to Hatfield if something like this happened? It’s just ridiculous.”