A nursery is offering mums an hour's free childcare so they can go for a smear test.

Kerry Ann Bateson from Safe & Sound Nursery and Kidz Club said she wanted to encourage mums to go for cervical screening after discovering that since January, more than 9000 women in the borough had failed to attend their smear test appointments.

Mrs Bateson, said: "I think there's a lot of mums who find it difficult to get someone to look after their kids while they go for things like this, so what we are doing to encourage and enable mums to go for the test is offering an hour's free childcare."

The 36-year-old, who runs the Darwen nursery with her twin sister, Kelly Ann Corkin, said that all mums need to do is give them a call in advance and they will do their best to accommodate any child they can, depending on availability and time.

She added: "This isn't something we're only going to do for a short time, it's not a limited offer; we're going to offer this for as long as the nursery is open. So as long as we are here, mums can come and drop their kids off so they can go for the test."

Cervical screening rates in the UK are at a 10 year low, with one in four women missing their appointments.

In response to those figures, Public Health England recently launched the ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaign, encouraging women to respond to their cervical screening invitation letter and, if they missed their last screening, to book an appointment at their GP practice.

The campaign also gives reassurance to women that the screening is not a test for cancer, but could save their lives should any abnormalities be detected early enough.

Mrs Bateson said she knows people who have missed their initial smear appointments which has then led to the discovery of cervical cancer later in their lives.

She said: "People need to think about their families, and their health; screening isn't something women should be scared or embarrassed about, it's there to catch anything abnormal before it's too late."

Any mums wishing to take advantage of the offer should send a message to Kerry via the Safe & Sound Nursery Facebook page or call 07715590138.