Patsy Kensit has revealed she had an emergency hysterectomy due to a secret double cancer scare.

The 45-year-old actress underwent surgery earlier in the year to remove tumours after an earlier one was removed from her ovary in 2011, and she feared the worst when she was given the bad news.

She told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: ''I honestly thought, this is it. I was convinced my luck had run out. I tried to prepare myself for the worst.''

The second scare came while she was in hospital with pneumonia and she was delighted when she got the news the ''tumours were't cancerous''.

She added: ''I scanned the text quickly, then sat on my hall stairs and cried with relief - the tumours weren't cancerous and I'd been given the all-clear.''

Both ordeals had been kept a secret from her sons James, 20, and Lennon, 14, and she wanted to do anything she could to make sure they didn't cope with the loss of their mother to cancer the way she did.

And Patsy doesn't regret making the decision to remove her uterus - and she would have a double mastectomy for the sake of her children.

She said: ''I haven't once regretted having a hysterectomy - but I did have a little period of mourning for that part of myself ... But it had given me two wonderful songs, which I'm eternally grateful for.

''I plan to get tested to find out if I've inherited one of the cancer high-risk cancer jeans from my mum.

''If I have, I won't think twice about having a double mastectomy. My goal is to live to a grand old age so my sons won't be without me.''