A mother-of-two who survived cancer after a shock diagnosis following her first smear test fears the "Jade Goody effect" has worn off - with screening rates falling to a 20-year low.

Kelly Orme, of Winshill, spoke out after it was revealed that attendance of cervical screening in England is the lowest for two decades, falling to 72 per cent.

The 29-year-old who is mum to Grace, nine, and Ben, six, fears the falling figures are down to a lack of awareness and believes that the Jade Goody effect has worn off, an opinion echoed by health experts.

Kelly said the lack of awareness means women are turning a blind eye to cervical cancer screening

Kelly had just celebrated her 25th birthday when she was invited to attend her first cervical screening exam. Just weeks later her life was turned upside down when doctors found severe abnormal cells.

She said: "I was quite nervous about it but I thought I might as well get it over and done with. It was routine, lasted a few minutes and I didn't think about it but a few days later I received a letter from the hospital asking me to go in the following day."

Biopsy tests were sent off and five weeks later she received the news she had been dreading. She had cervical cancer, but luckily it was discovered relatively early as she had had no symptoms.

She said: "If I hadn't gone for my smear I would be none the wiser now. I had two choices – to have part of my cervix taken away or have a hysterectomy. I already have two children. I think the hysterectomy was the easier way to get it over and done with.

"I was very lucky that the cancer was in the early stages. It was a routine check-up so there were no symptoms. It was very scary. If I didn't go, the outcome may have been very different. The worrying thing is that I had just turned 25 – the age screening begins – so I had the disease before I was allowed to be tested."

Although Kelly actively encourages women to go for screening, she acknowledges why many people would not go - and believes a lack of high-profile awareness is behind the falling figures.

Kelly is pictured with her children Ben and Grace

She said: "Everyone is different but I know the importance of going and how those two minutes can save your life. In my opinion if you have a cervix you are at risk of cervical cancer, and that is not a risk you should be willing to take. It is your own health that you are jeopardising by not going for screening.

"Honestly I think less women are going because there is no-one pushing them to. For example, when Jade Goody died from it, the numbers of women going was boosted because it was in the media and more people rely on media and social media now. In order to break the taboo there needs to be more knowledge about cervical cancer readily available.

"The most important thing you need to know is it can happen to anyone and it did happen to me. There is nothing more I can say, just get checked."

Following the diagnosis of Big Brother star Jade Goody with cervical cancer back in 2008 and her subsequent death at the age of just 27, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust says an extra 400,000 women went for screening.

Jade's openness in fighting the disease - which killed her on Mother's Day in March 2009, leaving behind her young sons Bobby and Freddy - brought home to young women the importance of regularly going for checks.

But now rates have fallen and it is feared complacency could have tragic outcomes for women who could otherwise be saved.

Robert Music, chief executive of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, said: "I am extremely disappointed to see these statistics, however sadly I am not surprised.

"The Jade Goody effect has long gone. We have spoken out time and time again about the need for investment and action to improve cervical screening attendance, however this is simply not happening.

"The Cancer Strategy for England emphasises prevention so it is incredibly frustrating to see lack of activity to increase participation in a programme that can prevent diagnoses of cervical cancer."

Kelly was diagnosed with cervical cancer weeks after her first smear test

Women aged 25 to 49 are offered screening every three years on the NHS and women aged 50 to 64 are offered screening every five years.

This includes women who have had the HPV vaccination, as the vaccine doesn’t guarantee complete protection against cervical cancer.

Although Kelly still has regular check-ups and MRI checks, she has now been given the all clear from the disease.

She said: "I didn't shy away from it. If I had, I wouldn't be here now. I wouldn't have seen my little boy start school, seen Grace grow up to be the intelligent little beauty she is and I would have never been a wife. I made the right decision, I just hope more women do the same."

The figures -

  • There were around 890 cervical cancer deaths in the UK in 2014, which is more than two deaths every day.
  • Cervical cancer accounts for one per cent of all cancer deaths in females in the UK (2014).
  • In females in the UK, cervical cancer is the 17th most common cause of cancer death, with around 890 deaths in 2014.
  • Almost half (47 per cent) of cervical cancer deaths in the UK each year are in females aged 65 and over (2012-2014).
  • Mortality rates for cervical cancer in the UK are highest in females aged between 85 and 89 (2012-2014).
  • Since the early 1970s, cervical cancer mortality rates in females have decreased by almost three-quarters (72 per cent) in the UK.
  • In the past 10 years, cervical cancer mortality rates in females have decreased by almost a quarter (23 per cent) in the UK.
  • Mortality rates for cervical cancer are projected to fall by seven per cent in the UK between 2014 and 2035, to three deaths per 100,000 females by 2035.
  • Cervical cancer deaths in England are more common in females living in the most deprived areas.
  • In Europe, around 24,400 women were estimated to have died from cervical cancer in 2012. The UK mortality rate is the ninth lowest in Europe.
  • Worldwide, more than 265,000 women are estimated to have died from cervical cancer in 2012, with mortality rates varying across the world.