A CANCER patient told he couldn’t book an appointment because he was dead has been given the all-clear.

As reported by the Lancashire Telegraph in June, Alan Campbell, 64, had already undergone three operations to treat skin cancer on his cheek and nose when he began to worry the deadly disease.

But when he tried to arrange a check-up through the NHS Choose & Book system, a telephone operator said their records showed him as ‘deceased’.

After NHS Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Care Trust Plus apologised, Mr Campbell, of Bay Street, Little Harwood, got his appointment on July 29.

Since then he had been waiting, ‘worried sick’, until hearing the good news last Monday.

He said: “I am over the moon. The doctors told me face-to-face.

"After everything that happened last time, I don’t know if I’d have trusted a letter or a phone call.

“But I didn’t need to ask twice. I’m happy they’ve got it right this time.”

Mr Campbell said he had been ‘terrified’ since he started to suffer throat pains and was worried the cancer had spread to his mouth or throat.

He said: “At the time, being told I was ‘dead’ and couldn’t have an appointment only added to my worry.

“From July 29 until Monday has been a long time to wait and because of what happened it feels like 12 months.

“I still look back and think it was a ridiculous mistake.

"Now I’ve got my fingers crossed it is the end of the ordeal.

“I’m planning a nice relaxing holiday after everything I’ve been put through.”

The former wagon driver said he celebrated the news by taking his partner Barbara Sanderson, 60, out for a meal.