A cancer survivor from Chiswick received a standing ovation at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester after revealing how the NHS saved his life.

Ed Mayne, 23, of Park Road, told a packed audience how the 'world-class' treatment he received on the NHS cured his tongue cancer and saved his speech.

Ed told the conference how after being diagnosed with tongue cancer this January, within two weeks, NHS doctors at Charing cross Hospital had performed an operation which involved cutting out the left hand side of his tongue and replacing it with tissue, a vein and an artery from his left arm.

"My speech recovered quickly and, on my 23rd birthday in February, I was given the best present I'd had in years, the news that my cancer was gone," he said. "Doctors continue to monitor me, but I thank the NHS for effectively curing me just a fortnight after diagnosis."

Ed, who stood as council candidate in Chiswick Riverside in the 2007 by-election, was invited to speak in front of the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers at the NHS 60th birthday celebration at the close of conference on September 24.

Ed who recently graduated from Oxford University, also told the conference that he could not possibly have afforded to pay for the treatment himself.

Brentford & Isleworth MP Ann Keen, a former nurse, said: "Ed's story is a heart-warming example of what the NHS does every day for thousands of people across the country."