A BURNLEY-born medical expert is leading the fight against prostate cancer.

Former Barden High School pupil Ahsanul Haq, a leading consultant urologist, is providing the expertise behind Lancashire Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust's new £100,000 laser surgery.

The new green light urology laser, at the Royal Preston Hospital, which treats patients across Lancashire and Cumbria, will be used to ensure prostate patients can pass water normally.

It can substantially reduce the length of a hospital stay.

Mr Haq, who also attended Burnley College before leaving to study medicine at St John's College, Cambridge, said: "There is no other NHS hospital in the north west with this equip-ment. It is the latest and most advanced available and will be a major benefit to patients.

"It is a far less invasive procedure and patients will see their hospital stay reduced to a day."

The prostate tends to grow as people get older and can put pressure on the urethra, causing problems such as difficulty urinating.

Experts say the laser procedure works by removing some of the enlarged prostate gland, easing the pressure on the bladder.