CANCER research fundraisers in a region with one of the worst survival rates in the country have bowed out after 50 years with a special concert which made more than £10,000 and brought their total contribution to an astonishing £300,000.

The Bedale Committee of Yorkshire Cancer Research is one of 40 groups in the region, where more than 500 people every week are diagnosed with cancer and nearly 250 die as a result of the disease.

It is the third worst area in England for incidents of cancer and survival rates. Money raised is ploughed into funding research in the area.

The committee’s final fund raiser was a 50th anniversary dinner held at Tennants in Leyburn.

Treasurer Liz Dodsworth said: "We are sad, but we are all past retirement age, one of our members is over 80 and we felt we wanted to stand down.

"We have had a lot of fun over the years and the final event was fabulous, we had a golden theme to mark the 50th anniversary.”

Their group is being absorbed into the Vale committee so fundraising will carry on. The Bedale committee kicked off with a Christian Dior Fashion Show at Thorp Perrow Hall, and has held two or three big events every year since.

“The thing is that most people are touched by cancer, everyone has a loved one, or knows someone with the disease.

"The important part for us is that the money raised funded research in Yorkshire."

Dr Kathryn Scott, head of research and innovation at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said 71 per cent of research funding from national charities still ended up in London, Oxford and Cambridge, with Yorkshire getting less than four per cent.

“It is facts like these that make the work of Yorkshire Cancer Research vital to local people and the local voluntary committees are so important to our long term success. We recently announced more than £10 million of new funding into projects that will aim to improve outcomes by focusing on areas such as palliative care and cervical cancer screening,” she said.

Charles Rowett, chief executive of Yorkshire Cancer Research, paid tribute to members and told them: “In 1965 when the Bedale committee was first formed cancer survival rates were very poor.

"Since then, advances in science, technology and education have meant that survival rates of many of the most common cancers have more than doubled.

“The money you have raised has helped enormously with the progress that has been made and you have played an important part in the global fight against this devastating disease.”