Health officials have defended the decision to hand over data on NHS cancer patients to an American firm linked to one of the world's largest tobacco companies.

Public Health England (PHE) said that it handed over the information after the statistical analysis firm William E Wecker submitted a data request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The health body said that it was legally bound to comply. It added that patient data was anonymised.

The comments come after the Daily Telegraph revealed that information on almost 180,000 lung cancer patients - every case in England over a four-year period - was handed over to the data consultancy firm.

In July 2016, PHE gave the data covering 179,040 lung tumours diagnosed between 2009 and 2013 to William E Wecker, the newspaper found.

In its data request, the firm said it wanted to evaluate lung cancer trends in Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

On its website, William E Wecker describes its association with a number of tobacco companies, including Philip Morris International. But it is also linked to other bodies such as the American Medical Association.

"William E Wecker Associates has established a track record of creative and effective applications of statistical and mathematical analysis to questions arising in regulation and litigation, in business and government," it states on the company's website.

Dr Jem Rashbass, national director for disease registration and cancer analysis at PHE, said: "We released this data under our legal duty to comply with the Freedom of Information Act.

"Patient confidentiality is of utmost importance and we've ensured that not sensitive or identifying patient information has been released.

"Any organisation or person can submit an FOI request and is legally entitled to a response, provided there is no applicable exemption."