It was a stressful Christmas for patients at a medical practice in the UK after they accidentally received a text telling them they had aggressive lung cancer.

The intended text the practice meant to send was a Merry Christmas message.

The BBC reports:

Askern Medical Practice sent the text message to people registered with the surgery in Doncaster on 23 December.

The group which runs the surgery said nobody was available for comment. The centre has almost 8,000 patients.

The first text told recipients they had “aggressive lung cancer with metastases”, a type of secondary malignant growth.

It directed patients to fill out a DS1500 form, which allows people with terminal diseases to claim certain benefits.

However, about an hour later people received a second text telling them it was an error and it was meant to wish them a merry Christmas instead.

Ms Hargreaves said after she received the original text while she was out shopping, she “felt sick to my teeth and broke down”.

She added: “I had just had a mole removed and was awaiting a result from a biopsy and I had been to hospital as my smear test came back abnormal, so yes, I was very worried.”