New NHS data shows 10,678 lung cancers have been detected through NHS scanning trucks in supermarket car parks, sports stadiums and busy high streets since the programme began.

More than three quarters these were caught at stages one or two.

People diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stages are nearly 13 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late.

Local health teams perform in-depth lung health checks and scans on current and past smokers aged 55-74 years old.

The trucks form part of the NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme, which was launched in 2019 in the areas hardest hit by the disease.

Under the new National Cancer Plan, the Government is aiming for 75% of people diagnosed with cancer to survive for five years or more by 2035. National rollout of lung cancer screening throughout England is a key part of this.

The nationwide rollout of the NHS’s programme by 2030 will lead to over 6 million people across England being invited for a lung health check; and is expected to support the diagnosis of up to 50,000 cancers.

Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England National Clinical Director for Cancer, said: “Lung cancer checks and scans save lives, so it’s fantastic the NHS has now diagnosed over 10,000 people — the majority at an early stage, when treatment is most effective.

“The Lung Cancer Screening Programme has been designed around where people already are, bringing scanners into their local communities to make it easier for people to get checked.

“It is great to see the positive public response to this programme, and rolling this out nationwide will help us save even more lives in the future.”

Since the programme began more than 3.3 million people have been invited by the NHS to have a lung health check; and of those assessed, over 800,000 individuals underwent an LDCT scan.

Data shows that more than a third of people diagnosed with lung cancer from the most deprived areas of England were diagnosed early, since the NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme began.

The NHS Lung Screening Programme is the biggest initiative in NHS history aimed at improving early lung cancer diagnosis.

The NHS programme was specifically created to support people without lung cancer symptoms, but might still be at risk of developing the disease.