A milestone in the battle against breast cancer was marked with champagne and flowers.
Jan Cole, 51, took centre stage as the 100,000th woman to be registered with the Chelmsford and Colchester Breast Screening Service.
Mrs Cole had her mammogram breast X-ray on October 3, at Essex County Hospital, Colchester, and was given the all-clear.
The national breast screening programme was introduced in 1989, for woman between the ages of 50 and 64, and the Chelmsford and Colchester Breast Screening Service covers an area which includes Colchester, Tendring, Halstead, Chelmsford, Witham and Braintree.
Mrs Cole, a teacher at Heathlands Primary School, West Bergholt, was presented with champagne and flowers in the breast unit at Essex County Hospital, by Fiona MacNeill, consultant breast surgeon.
Other staff involved in breast care, including radiographers and breast care nurses, were present and a cake cut to mark the occasion.
Monica Dale, superintendent radiographer at Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust, said the 100,000th woman to be registered was a milestone worth celebrating.
"The national breast screening programme invites women between the ages of 50 and 64 to be screened every three years, which means some women are now being invited back for the fifth time," she said.
"Breast screening can help to find small changes in the breast before there are any other signs or symptoms of cancer. If these changes are found at an early stage, there is a good chance of a successful recovery.
"October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there is no better time to remind women of the availability of free NHS breast screening to all women aged over 50."
There are currently 59,000 women invited for breast screening in North East and Mid Essex, of whom 79 per cent accept their invitation for an X-ray every three years.
Women are screened at Essex County Hospital and at the Chelmsford and Essex Centre, Chelmsford. There is also a brand new £142,000 mobile breast screening unit, which is currently in Dovercourt.
By Lisa Cockrell
Reporter's e-mail: lisa_cockrell@thisisessex.co.uk
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