All black men in the UK will be invited to join a prostate cancer screening trial in a major step towards the wider rollout of lifesaving checks.

James Murray today accepted a recommendation from his advisors to restrict access to a new national screening programme to as few as 1,500 people.

But the health secretary committed to expanding an ongoing trial into diagnostic tests and scans so all black men aged 45 to 74 who have not had a PSA test or MRI prostate scan in the past five years can take part.

The Transform trial is investigating different ways to detect prostate cancer earlier, with researchers already aiming to ensure one in ten invited to participate are black, as they are twice as likely to develop the disease.

If the results find a more reliable way of detecting the tumours that require treatment, advisors could recommend expanding eligibility for screening to a wider group of men.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with 63,000 cases and 12,000 deaths each year - but unlike breast, bowel and lung cancer, there is currently no national screening programme.

The Daily Mail is among those campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and for a national screening programme, initially targeted at high-risk men, such as those who are black, have a family history of the disease or specific genetic mutations.

The UK National Screening Committee sparked outrage last week when it told ministers only men with a rare genetic mutation combined with a family history of some cancers should be included.

This meant that black men - who run twice the risk of developing prostate cancer and of dying from it - and those with a family history would have been excluded.

Campaigners said the decision risked thousands of men being ‘condemned to an avoidable death’ and described it as a ‘profound disappointment’ as they called on Mr Murray to overrule his advisors.

Mr Murray has now ignored these pleas, rubber-stamping his advisors’ recommendation that only men aged 45 to 61 who have particular BRCA2 variants combined with a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer should qualify for screening outside of the trial.

The screening programme is expected to launch next year, with eligible men having a blood test every two years to check for a marker of potential prostate cancer known as PSA.

The committee said widening screening at this stage could lead to over-diagnosis and over-treatment.

Ministers have told the committee to keep their recommendation under review as new evidence from the trial and elsewhere emerges.

The Department of Health and Social Care said an extra £18million will be invested in the Transform trial and it will broaden access to focal therapies.

These are less invasive treatments that target prostate cancer, giving men greater choice about their options when they receive a new diagnosis.

Meanwhile, GPs and the public will be given updated guidance on PSA blood tests and patients can still request these from their family doctors outside of a screening programme and trial.

David James, director of patient projects and influencing at the charity Prostate Cancer Research, said: 'This is a deeply disappointing moment for men and families across the country who know first-hand the devastating impact of prostate cancer.

‘For those at highest risk, this decision to accept the UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation will feel like yet another setback.

‘This government has missed an historic opportunity.

‘Men at highest risk have already waited too long.’

The changes make the now £60 million Transform trial the largest prostate cancer screening trial in 20 years and the most diverse and representative of the UK population ever undertaken.

Invitations to thousands of black men are already being sent as part of stage one of Transform, but the extra investment will increase the number sent out as part of the second stage, starting in the next few years.

Professor Hashim Ahmed, chief investigator of the Transform trial and professor of urology at Imperial College London, said the extra funding and expansion of the trial will 'give all men at risk of prostate cancer a better chance of early diagnosis in future’.

He added: 'By increasing the number of black men recruited, we will increase the overall size and scale of Transform, involving more men from across the country.

'This not only helps plug critical evidence gaps for black men, but it also substantially increases the likelihood that Transform will deliver safe effective screening for all men at risk of prostate cancer as soon as possible.'

Former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak, who has campaigned for a prostate cancer screening programme, said: ‘There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a missed opportunity for men’s health.

‘The chance to stop more fathers, brothers and sons dying before their time has not been seized.

‘I will continue to campaign with Prostate Cancer Research for a targeted screening programme for prostate cancer because the evidence shows that will save lives.’

Mr Murray said: ‘This is a major step forward in how we tackle prostate cancer.

‘We’re following the science to make sure men get earlier answers and better care, and to avoid doing unnecessary harm.’

It comes as former Liverpool and England footballer John Barnes, 62, revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer after his children pushed him to get checked.