A procedure to carry out radiotherapy by operation could save breast cancer patients in Barnet from dozens of hospital visits.

The treatment was carried out at the Royal Free Hospital for the first time two weeks ago on 83-year-old Audrey Holman, who had surgery and radiotherapy at the same time.

When Mrs Holman was diagnosed with breast cancer in October, she was scared of losing her independence.

Conventional cancer treatments would have meant making 30 visits to the hospital after surgery to receive radiotherapy - a form of treatment using radiation on a diseased part of the body - to stop the cancer coming back.

Radiotherapy can have serious side-effects in patients, leaving them exhausted. But Mo Keshtgar, a consultant breast surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, in Pond Street, Hampstead, offered Mrs Holman the new treatment, called intraoperative radiotherapy, which he is helping to develop.

Surgery was carried out to remove the tumour in October and two weeks ago she had surgery, to remove tissue around the tumour site, and radiotherapy at the same time.

She said: "It was wonderful. Mr Keshtgar kept me in hospital for 48 hours to make sure I was okay after the operation, but I felt back to normal after 24 hours.

"If I'd had to visit the hospital five times a week for six weeks I don't know how I would have coped.

"My family - I have seven grandchildren - has been hugely supportive but they don't live nearby and I wouldn't have had time to go shopping or do the other things you need to do to keep a house running. I dread to think what would have happened."

The treatment involves removing the tumour lump under general anaesthetic. While the patient is still unconscious, radiotherapy is carried out on the surrounding tissue killing any remaining cancer cells.

Mr Keshtgar said there were many benefits to the treatment, mainly cutting out the need for repeat treatments of conventional radiotherapy.

He said: "I use a specialist portable machine which can be taken into an operating theatre. There is an applicator which I use to deliver radiotherapy to the affected tissue for around 30 minutes, destroying cancerous cells."

He added: "This means the patient is given radiotherapy immediately after surgery to remove the lump. They do not have to wait for a radiotherapy appointment."

Doctors at the hospital suggest introducing the treatment could lead to a reduction in waiting lists as there is no need for patients to keep returning for radiotherapy.

All conventional breast cancer treatments will still be offered.