Jenni Murray, presenter of Radio 4's Woman's Hour, has told listeners she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 56-year-old announced the news on Thursday's edition of the daily morning programme.

"Treatments are very good these days and I know quite a bit about this disease thanks to working on the programme," she told listeners. "Fingers crossed, everything should be all right.

“I’ve known about the diagnosis for a couple of weeks now," she continued. "It was diagnosed up in Macclesfield when I was supposedly on my holidays.”

A BBC spokesman said the broadcaster, who has a flat in London and family home in Cheshire, will undergo surgery between Christmas and New Year.