Regulators are seeking to reassure up to 50,000 British women amid concerns that their breast implants may be linked to a small number of cancer cases.

French authorities will announce tomorrow that up to 30,000 women who received a specific type of implant in France can have them taken out.

But the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there is no evidence to support removal of the implants, made by Poly Implant Prostheses (PIP).

The implants have been linked to the death of a French woman from a rare form of cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), and are implicated in another seven or eight cancer cases.

The implants are filled with an unapproved gel and there are reports the protective barriers are faulty.

PIP has since closed and more than 2000 women have filed legal complaints.

The MHRA said yesterday that its own testing last year revealed no evidence of a link with cancer.

It said it had received no reports of ALCL linked with breast implants in the UK, adding: "Discussions with the relevant UK professional bodies have not identified any cases."

And it said there was no evidence to support women having the implants removed.

"The MHRA has reviewed evidence for association of cancers for women with breast implants in consultation with the relevant UK professional bodies for breast surgery and surgical oncology and has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to indicate any association with cancer."

A statement from the British Association for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (Bapras) said: "Bapras has not yet seen the evidence demonstrating that health problems may have been caused by PIP breast implants and will fully assess any that becomes available."

Mrs Eva Weiler-Mithoff, a consultant plastic surgeon who specialises in breast reconstruction for Confidence Cosmetics in Glasgow, said: "There is no proof that these implants cause any serious harm because all the tests that are required to establish whether they can cause these diseases have, to my knowledge, not been concluded.

"For patients who do not know what kind of implants they have, they should either check their implant details or contact their surgeon."