A YOUNG woman who battled cervical cancer is campaigning for a potentially life-saving change in the law.

Rachel Bennett was diagnosed with the cancer when she was 21, four years below the age at which women start to having routine checks for it.

Now she is to take part in a march in London during which protesters will call on the Government to lower the screening age so that women are given smear tests from age 20.

Miss Bennett, a photographer, said that she would have died before she hit 25 if the illness had been left untreated.

Following diagnosis, she underwent radical surgery to remove her cervix and lymph glands in her pelvis and is now recovering from the illness.

The 22-year-old, of Statham Street, Derby, said: "I'm desperate to get more women down to London to support us at the march and make the Government sit up and realise that we all want the same thing.

"To just ignore these women instead of keeping an eye on them to make sure they don't get cancer is so very wrong.

"I was lucky enough to have symptoms of the disease, which meant I went to the doctor and managed to get a diagnosis after a few months of tests.

"My worry is for the women my age who have cancer but are not symptomatic, which is often the case with this illness, and, therefore, will not be diagnosed until it is too late."

Almost every woman found to have the cancer in its earliest stage can be cured.

In contrast, only 20% of those diagnosed with the cancer in its most advanced stage will survive for five or more years.

Reality TV star Jade Goody, 27, was told last month that her illness was terminal after being first diagnosed with cervical cancer last summer.

In 2004, the Government changed the screening age from 20 to 25, based on research which showed treatment was putting women's chances of getting pregnant at risk.

The research concluded that women were being treated for abnormal cells which their immune system would have fought off naturally and would not have led to cancer.

But, in Wales, Scotland and Ireland, screening continued to be carried out from age 20.

The campaign to bring the screening age back down to 20 has been given the support of Derby North MP Bob Laxton, who has written to the Government asking for the screening age to be reviewed.

He said: "It's a high-level killer of young woman, so anything that would give them a greater life expectancy should be supported."

Cervical cancer charity Jo's Trust is organising the march in London on Wednesday, March 18, and its director, Robert Music, said the research which led to the change in the law should be looked at again.

He said: "There was concern within the Government about over-treating women who showed abnormal cells which could affect their fertility.

"But we're calling for ministers to review the evidence as quickly as possible because we're aware of a lot of young women that have been affected by cervical cancer."

In more than 99% of cases, cervical cancer is caused by persistent infection with a common virus called human papillomavirus, which is passed through skin-to-skin contact in the genital area.

Up to 75% of people of reproductive age will be infected with HPV during their lives but most will not develop cancer.

To get involved in the march, visit www.jostrust.co.uk.