HEROIC Jane Tomlinson's widower has been hailed by North-East campaigners for joining the battle against restrictions on new cancer drugs.

Mike Tomlinson said his charity fundraiser wife had been "fundamentally let down" when her NHS trust said it would not fund a £6,700 drug, that could have extended her life.

Jane Tomlinson, who defied medical advice and raised nearly £2m by taking part in a string of gruelling events, died last month after losing her seven-year battle with breast cancer.

Speaking at a news conference in Leeds, Mr Tomlinson called on the Government to end so-called postcode rationing and ensure that all patients had access to the same drugs, particularly cancer drugs.

Even though Mrs Tomlinson raised £1.75m for charity, including research into cancer, she was denied the breast cancer drug Lapatinib, which has been available to other patients in the UK as part of clinical trials. Lapatinib has been given a licence in the US, but is still part of clinical trials in the UK.

After a three-month delay, Mrs Tomlinson eventually got the drug, but had to make a 150-mile round trip to Nottingham, to get it from another hospital.

The problems of postcode rationing have been highlighted by The Northern Echo's End NHS Injustice campaign.

Last night, Darlington lung cancer patient Dave Hill, 45, who is fighting to get access to Tarceva, a new drug available in Scotland on the NHS, but not in England, said: "I totally agree with Mike Tomlinson. What he is saying about restrictions on new cancer drugs is absolutely right."

Mr Hill said he was still waiting to hear from his local primary care trust whether they would fund the £1,600-a-month drug.

Colin Smith, whose mother, Pamela, 63, from Darlington, was forced to go private and pay more than £28,000 to get supplies of a licensed drug called Erbitux to combat bowel cancer, said: "I couldn't agree more with what Mike Tomlinson is saying. It is great news that somebody with the high profile of Jane Tomlinson's husband has spoken out in favour of this campaign."

Mr Smith said it was absurd that Erbitux, a new drug commonly prescribed to bowel cancer patients in Europe and the US, had been judged to be too expensive to be prescribed on the NHS.