FEWER women are signing up for vital health tests in York, according to a council report.

Concerns were raised over the falling number of people attending their cervical cancer and breast cancer screening tests in the city.

Director of public health at the council, Sharon Stoltz, said it is a particular problem among younger women aged between 25 and 29. She added that this is a national trend.

Speaking at a health and well-being board meeting on Wednesday evening, she said: “The target that every community should try and meet for cervical cancer screening is 80 per cent, and as you can see York is currently below that at around just under 72 per cent.

“But that hides the fact that we have a particularly low uptake of screening in younger women, which is an area of concern for us. This is not a feature that is unique to York.”

Figures from Cancer Research UK show that there were 3,126 new cases of cervical cancer in Britain in 2015.

Meanwhile, 854 people died from the disease in 2016.

Cervical screening, known as smear tests, can help prevent cancer. Patients will receive an invitation to make an appointment with their GP or nurse when their next test is due.