LORD David Sheppard, the former Bishop of Liverpool, yesterday spoke for the first time about his fight against cancer.

Lord Sheppard, who stood down from the job of running the Anglican church in Liverpool six years ago, has been suffering from lung and bowel cancer.

Yesterday, however, he revealed that his doctor has told him that the disease is now in remission.

The good news comes after six months of chemotherapy.

He has been treated by doctors at Clatterbridge Hospital close to his home in Wirral.

Lord Sheppard has suffered since being diagnosed 21N2 years ago, and feared the cancer which took hold in his lungs would prove to be terminal.

He has told how he felt he had been given a second chance at life and thanked the nurses who had supported him through his ordeal.

He paid glowing tributes to staff at the Wirral unit and others across the region with whom he has had dealings.

And he described his wife, Grace, herself a cancer survivor, as "my wonderful support."

He said: "I am thankful to say that I feel really well. My recent CT scan showed that the cancer has been held back, and the oncologist does not want to see me for three months."

He added: "My own experience makes me praise the quality of nurses. Morale is high. I felt I was in the hands of professionals."

During his illness, 74-year-old Lord Sheppard underwent a life-saving bowel cancer operation at Murrayfield Hospital, at Arrowe Park, a liver cancer operation at the Royal and two six-month chemotherapy sessions at Clatterbridge, the last for lung cancer.

He said: "I feel terrific. I was very lucky that I did not suffer any of the nasty side-effects associated with chemotherapy.

"I was also lucky in having my wife, Grace. She was diagnosed with cancer 40 years ago when few people survived it.

"She has been in full and great health for many years and that was wonderful support and encouragement for me."

He told fellow peers that he was especially grateful for Clatter-bridge's communication system.

"I was given telephone numbers at each stage which would put me or my wife in touch with a specialist nurse to ring whenever we needed," he said. "That contact bred confidence and a sense of support during anxious times."