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Anna Soubry, the Conservative MP and public health minister, said: "The Cancer Drugs Fund is one of this Government's proudest achievements.

"By protecting the NHS budget, we have been able to provide literally life-saving treatment to over 30,000 patients in England since the last election.

"Welsh patients will be outraged that their Labour government won't offer the same service."

However, a Labour spokesman criticised the Government's record on waiting times for cancer tests.

"In England, on David Cameron's watch, five times as many people are waiting three months or longer for vital cancer tests," the spokesman said.

"At the same time, waiting lists are at a five-year high thanks to this Government's NHS mismanagement."

In October 2010 the Coalition announced that the £650 million fund would be available to allow doctors to buy drugs that can extend or improve the quality of their patients' lives. Since it began operating in 2011, 30,034 people in England have received treatment paid for through the fund.

The drugs purchased are not routinely available on the NHS in England because they have not yet been officially assessed for their suitability, or they have been judged not to work well enough to be cost effective.

Patients who are assessed as meeting the conditions for a drug on the fund's list are able to receive treatment paid for through the fund.

However, as it is only available to patients living in England, a number of patients in Wales have been advised to relocate in order to receive the treatments they would be denied if they remained in the principality.

One grandfather was told to move 20 miles over the border so that he could be given drugs for liver cancer.

A woman from North Wales with bowel cancer was forced to rent a second home in England in order to receive the treatment she wanted.

Another woman, who was terminally ill, also planned to move, while support groups have said they are aware of a number of other cases in which patients have moved from Wales to Bristol.