Terry Jones has spoken about his brush with bowel cancer and called on others to have check-ups.

The former Monty Python star was diagnosed in October and has now fully recovered following surgery and chemotherapy.

He told the Mail on Sunday: "I'm in great health and great spirits. I feel incredibly lucky that the illness was spotted so early.

"I urge all men over the age of 50 to go for a routine colonoscopy. This would save lives. Colon cancer is incredibly common and you don't necessarily have any symptoms; you don't feel ill."

"In some ways it seems as if I was never really ill. At least I never felt ill," he recalled. "They stuck a camera inside me and found a tumour. I was taken straight into hospital to have it removed and I recovered extremely quickly after that."