HALF-a-million pounds towards paying for a radiotherapy unit at Kendal's Westmorland General Hospital will be lost if a decision is not made by the summer, it has been claimed.

A proposal to build the specialist unit at the Burton Road site in Kendal is still sitting on a desk at NHS England - months after it was submitted.

In January the government confirmed it will stump up the £15m needed in a move which would stop cancer sufferers being forced to travel to Preston for potentially life-saving treatment.

The trust in charge of the hospital, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), alongside the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, then had to submit a business case to commissioners NHS England - proving there is a need for a dedicated unit in Kendal.

But NHS England is currently waiting for the results of a national radiotherapy capacity review, already three months overdue, and until its publication there is a moratorium on the commissioning of new services.

In a letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron warned that if a decision is not made by June 2016 a £500,000 donation left by a 'generous benefactor' will be lost to the NHS.

In the letter, seen by the Gazette, Mr Farron urged the health chief to:

L press for the publication of the report

L seek assurances UHMBT would be given additional cash for running the unit given its rurality

L re-clarify the position that no-one should have to travel 45 minutes for treatment

"No decision has been made because the Government is dragging its heels and the review is on the shelf at the minute," said Mr Farron.

"People living in rural areas have as much right as those living in urban areas to have access to radiotherapy treatment."

The Westmorland Gazette's Shorter Journeys Longer Lives campaign to bring the service to Kendal was launched in 2011 and ran alongside one set up by Mr Farron.

The strength of feeling was shown when 2,000 people marched through Kendal town centre in a passionate plea to bring radiotherapy services to South Lakeland.