WOMEN suffering from breast cancer are being urged to take up a revolutionary form of outdoors treatment: fly fishing!

It is a movement that started in America some years ago when doctors noticed that fly-fishing brought down levels of stress in female cancer patients.

The campaign passed to Canada and has now reached Britain, backed by womens' angling groups and the Countryside Alliance.

Although there is no proven medical evidence that the sport acts directly against the cancer, the stress reduction and the gentle exercise involved is said to help boost the body's natural defences against the disease to slow down its spread.