Eating organic foods will not affect your risk of cancer, scientists have claimed.

In a survey of about 600,000 women aged over 50, Oxford University researchers found no evidence that diets free from produce grown using pesticides had any effect on chances of cancer.

It examined how many of the women developed any of the 16 most common types of cancer across a nine year period.

That figure stood at about 50,000, but the scientists found no connection between that number and how many ate organically.

Cancer Research UK information manager Dr Claire Knight said: “Eating a well-balanced diet which is high in fruit and vegetables, whether conventionally grown or not, can help reduce your cancer risk.”