A near-doubling in the incidence of cancers among people living near Dalgety Bay in Fife has been discovered by Government scientific advisers.

As a result, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for further investigation into the health risks.

A report by experts for a Department of Health advisory committee on radiation has found a marked increase in liver and blood cancers close to the site of radioactive contamination in Fife.

The scientists have recommended a study into potential links between the radioactive site and cancer levels.

The report found liver cancers were concentrated in communities near the polluted foreshore, which "reinforces the suspicion" they were linked to the discarded radium that has littered the area for decades.

Yesterday, the revelations provoked concern among local residents, who demanded an in-depth inquiry.

Mr Brown, the MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, said: "Local residents will rightly want and expect more detailed studies done with the greatest of precision to reassure them about their safety."

Last month, the UK Government's Health Protection Agency (HPA) issued advice that public health risks from radiation at Dalgety Bay were low.

This has now been undermined by the report for the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (Comare), which advises ministers in Westminster and Holyrood.

The Preliminary Report on Cancer Rates around Dalgety Bay was presented to Comare's last meeting on October 10, with its findings released to the Sunday Herald, the Herald's sister paper.

The report revealed there has been a statistically significant excess of liver cancers around Dalgety Bay between 2000 and 2009.

Instead of the four cases that would be expected, there had been 10.

All cases were found in the "data zones" nearest the contaminated foreshore. There was "a pronounced tendency for the observed cases to be close to the headland", the report concluded. "It is recommended that there should be further investigation of these cases and an analysis of earlier data if available."

There was also a significant excess of lymphomas, the report said.

There were 27 cases around Dalgety Bay, where 16 would have been expected.

Alex Elliott, a Glasgow University physics professor who chairs Comare and an expert group on Dalgety Bay, accepted there was a possibility the liver cancers were linked to the contamination, but stressed there could be other causes.

He said: "While exposure to radium cannot be excluded as a cause, there are other risk factors more closely associated with this disease."

Comare is now conducting further investigations with the aim of producing a final report next year.