A roll-out of a bowel screening programme in the North Highlands gets under way on Monday.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in men and women with around 3,400 people every year in Scotland being diagnosed.

The condition, which is more prevalent in men than women, kills over 1,500 Scots every year.

The Scottish Bowel Screening Programme is being rolled out across Scotland and it is estimated that screening programmes can reduce death from colorectal cancer by approximately 16%.

The programme was launched in the Highlands on December 1, 2009, and men and women across the Highland Council area, aged 50-74yrs, are being invited to participate in the programme by completing a screening test every two years.