DAILY Echo columnist and BBC South Today news presenter Sally Taylor is backing a new breast screening service to help thousands of women across Hampshire win their fight against the disease.

She officially unveiled Southampton and Salisbury Breast Screening Service’s new digital breast screening unit at Princess Anne Hospital.

Sally discovered she had pre-cancerous cells in her right breast and a threat of them in her left in 1999.

It was the disease that took the life of her mother and Sally made the decision to have a double mastectomy.

Since then Sally has backed causes to support those affected by cancer, including becoming vice-president of the Wessex Cancer Trust and a patron of various good causes.

The new unit was unveiled in celebration of the screening service’s 25 years in helping women to fight the deadly disease.

Having recently expanded its screening programme to include women aged between 47 and 49 and 71 and 73, health bosses made it a priority to replace the old equipment to ensure a top quality service for all.

The unit has seen its analogue equipment replaced with state-of-the-art digital screening machines, which offer higher detection rates, especially in younger women and are much more cost efficient.

The service, which has three mobile units, also has three brand new digital imaging vans, three new mammography and seven diagnostic workstations to read and report on the images.

There are now three brand new digital imaging vans, three new mammography machines located at its static site at the hospital and seven diagnostic workstations to read and report on the mammography images.

• Additional reporting by Rory McKeown