WYRE Forest residents are being given free mouth cancer checks as part of Mouth Cancer Action Month.

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust’s Community Dental Service is offering free checks at Kidderminster Health Centre between 1.30pm and 4.30pm on Monday, November 17.

The trust is aiming to educate the public about mouth cancer and promote the message “if in doubt, get checked out” in a bid to save lives through early detection.

Rachel Wakley, dental services business manager, said: “Many people tend to wait for too long before getting checked, by which time the cancer is already at an aggressive stage.

“Older people with dentures in particular tend to think they don’t need to go to the dentist.

“However they are also at risk of getting mouth cancer. So we urge people to get checked, which could save your life.”

According to the NHS, the number of people diagnosed with mouth cancer has increased by more than 50 per cent in the last decade, with latest figures for the UK showing 6,767 new cases a year and 2,000 people losing their life to mouth cancer every year.

In Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire combined, 89 cases of head and neck cancers were diagnosed in 2013, 50 of which were in the oral cavity.