WOMEN will soon be able to check out more than their shopping at an Ilkley supermarket.

The Pennine Breast Screening Unit has bought three new mobile breast screening units and one of them will be located at Booths Supermarket on Leeds Road from August 7 until October.

Boasting the latest generation of specialised high-tech equipment the new units will play a key role in the early detection of breast cancer for women aged 50 to 64.

More than 3,000 women registered with GPs in the Ilkley area will be receiving invitations for screening on the new units.

The new location will mean women from Ilkley will not have to travel to Airedale General Hospital, Steeton, near Keighley, when they are invited to have a mammogram.

Women aged 65 and over do not receive an automatic appointment but they are encouraged to request screening by asking their own GP practice to complete and forward an 'Over 65' form to The Pennine Breast Screening Unit. Every three years the screening programme invites women from all over West Yorkshire.

In the last screening round 75 per cent of the women invited from the Ilkley area took up their invitation for a scan.

John Philip, clinical director of the Pennine service, said: "We would like to encourage all women invited for breast screening to attend their appointments as it remains the best way of identifying breast cancer in time to carry out early and more effective treatment."

A representative of Booths supermarket on Leeds Road, said that the company was only too happy to help with the breast screening programme.

The unit will be based in the car park but tucked out of the way close to the delivery doors for approximately three months.

Robert Parker, assistant manager at the store, said: "They came to see us and explained what they wanted to do and we said we were only to happy to help. It seemed like we are just doing our bit to help."

Anyone who wants further information about the service or wants to change appointments should ring the Pennine Breast Screening Office on (01274) 365521.

l Booths supermarket has reached its £30,000 target in the climax of an appeal for Christie's Against Cancer.

The appeal, which was launched only three years ago, aims to raise funds for new development in cancer diagnosis, research and treatment.

Booths has being helping to raise funds for the Christie Hospital in Manchester since 1998, putting all its weight behind the appeal.

Staff at Booths in Ilkley were among those from the chain who took part in a whole host of weird and wonderful events to back the cause.

These included the company chairman, Edwin Booth, being sponsored to return to the shop floor for a day and staff doing a 60-mile ride on a 24-seater bicycle..