Jeremy Clarkson has avoided the potentially life-changing side effects of prostate cancer surgery after getting the same state-of-the-art treatment as former Prime Minister David Cameron.

The TV presenter and farmer said he received Lord Cameron's highly targeted focal therapy, which avoids side effects such as erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.

One prostate cancer charity last night called for the minimally invasive technique, suitable to treat up to 17,000 men a year, to be adopted across the NHS.

Clarkson, 66, revealed on his TV show Clarkson's Farm last week that he had been diagnosed with 'aggressive' prostate cancer in May last year but it was caught early. He told tomorrow's Sunday Times that it 'could have spread' and 'that would have been trouble'.

He was treated in London last August, though it is not known if he had high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) at an NHS or private hospital. It uses sound waves to kill the cancer.

On his Amazon Prime show, Clarkson told Kaleb Cooper, 27, manager of his Oxfordshire farm Diddly Squat: 'You know the prostate – 10 per cent of it is dead, the 10 per cent where the cancer is.

'They use ultrasound. Have you ever got a magnifying glass on a piece of paper on a sunny day? They do that but with sound waves. They direct them on to the cancer and blitz it.'

Lord Cameron, 59, and Conservative peer Sir Graham Brady, also 59, both had their cancer treated with focal therapy.

It uses high-frequency sound waves, cold gases via needle-thin probes or electrical pulses to generate heat or cold to destroy cancerous cells.

Instead of removing or irradiating the entire prostate, as with surgery or radiotherapy, focal therapies target only the cancerous area, preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.

But just seven NHS hospitals in London and the South East offer the treatment, which benefits men with early stage prostate cancer.

Around 17,000 men of the 63,000 diagnosed each year with prostate cancer could be suited to focal therapy but are rarely offered it within the NHS, says the charity Prost8 UK which campaigns for it to be rolled out nationwide.

Prost8 founder and prostate cancer survivor Paul Sayer, 69, who refused surgery or radiotherapy and was successfully treated with focal therapy, said the NHS betrayed thousands of men.

He said this 'type of minimally invasive treatment' he and Clarkson received should be 'benefiting thousands of men on the NHS'.

But 'many clinicians are wedded to invasive types of treatment which are not needed by many with early stage prostate cancer'.

Mr Sayer compared this to 'going into hospital for treatment for an ingrowing toenail and waking up to find they amputated your foot', adding: 'It cured the issue but at an unnecessary lifestyle cost.'

It is estimated more than 500,000 men are living with prostate cancer – and unlike breast, bowel and lung cancer, there is no national screening programme.

Of the 63,000 diagnosed annually more than 12,000 will die because it wasn't spotted early enough.

The NHS is rolling out high-powered precision radiotherapy called SABR to target the disease more effectively and reduce the side-effects of conventional radiotherapy.

A spokesman said guidance notes 'limited evidence on the effectiveness of cryotherapy and high-intensity focused ultrasound' and 'does not recommend they are made routinely available on the NHS'.