PEOPLE with concerns or questions about cancer are being urged to drop by a mobile Macmillan information point in Swindon today.

The charity which the Adver teamed up with three years ago to raise £1m for the Swindon Cancer Appeal is taking its support and advice to the streets as part of a UK tour.

Its information centre will be open until 4pm today in the town centre.

Mary Brown, a Macmillan adviser, cancer expert and radiographer, and Nikki Booth, fellow Macmillan adviser, are on hand to answer queries on almost any aspect of cancer.

Mary said: "We are both profess-ionals with medical backgrounds and we are here to answer any questions people might have. We cannot provide medical advice but having the right kind of information at the right time is essential.

"It can help you make informed choices about your treatment and care and even take away some of the fear.

"Statistics suggest that up to one in three people in this country will be affected by cancer in one way or another in their lifetime and, with so many different types of cancer, it's important that people get the right information.

"We are expecting a lot of queries about cancers such as mesothelioma, which is a cancer we have found pockets of, particularly in ship-building towns in the south."

Opening the trailer yesterday was Swindon Mayor Coun Mike Bawden, who has first-hand experience of prostate cancer.

In August 2001 doctors found that his prostate was slightly enlarged during a routine health check-up and as precaution he started to have six-monthly prostate specific antigen blood tests.

His worst fears were realised when it was confirmed that he had prostate cancer but following a three-month course of radiotherapy doctors gave him the all-clear.

He said: "If you have concerns about cancer it is no good putting them off and projects like this where people can get advice are extremely important, not just for the individual but to family and friends as well."

The visit to Swindon is part of a 47-stop tour to towns and cities all over the UK.

Last year, the mobile centre gave advice to 4,500 people. The trailer will be in Wharf Green Market Square, outside House of Fraser and McDonald's, until 4pm today.