First proton beam cancer treatment unit to open in Cardiff

Freya Bevan, from Neath, had to travel to Oklahoma to receive her proton beam therapy

The UK's first proton beam therapy centre for cancer patients will open in Cardiff.

It will provide treatment to NHS, private and self-funding patients.

The treatment is a highly-targeted type of radiotherapy that can treat hard-to-reach cancers.

Cardiff-based Proton Partners International's announcement comes after two-year-old Freya Bevan was forced to travel from Neath to Oklahoma for treatment in February.

Freya and her family made the journey because the treatment for her brain tumour was not available in the UK.

Proton Partners International said two other centres will also open in London and Northumberland in 2017.

Proton beam therapy can offer a more targeted approach