Breast cancer patients at Airedale General Hospital could soon be taking part in Britain's first trial to find out whether hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is safe for them to take.

Until now menopausal women with a history of breast cancer have been denied HRT because doctors fear it might increase the chances of a recurrence of the disease.

Now researchers from the Cancer Research Campaign will test this theory in a controversial trial involving 3,000 women at more than 50 centres across the UK.

Airedale Hospital in Steeton, Cookridge Hospital, Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital, all in Leeds, are awaiting approval from ethics committees to take part in the trial.

If they get the green light half the breast cancer patients on the trial will receive HRT and the other half given advice alternative ways of controlling their symptoms, including the drugs, reflexology, acupuncture and massage.

Trial chairman Nigel Sacks and another lead researcher Dr Jo Marsden have already conducted a pilot study of 100 women.

Mr Sacks, said: "Results from our pilot study have been very encouraging. We found that women are keen to get treatments to ease their symptoms and there seemed to be no interaction between the HRT and other medicines our patients were receiving.''

"Breast cancer only recurred in three of the women who took part, one had taken no HRT, one had taken it for just six weeks and the other had taken it for two years."