MORE than 1,200 children have been booked into a private health clinic charging £240 for a course of separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations.

Direct Health 2000 of London has had no shortage of takers willing to pay £80 a time for three separate jabs despite assurances from health professionals that the triple MMR vaccine poses no risk. The triple jab costs the NHS only £11.30.

The clinic, initially organised as a one-off at the private Woodlands Hospital at Morton Park, has now had to extend sessions to cope with the unprecedented demand from around the North-East.

Dr Ken Snider, consultant in public health medicine for County Durham, was staggered by the numbers wanting to pay for immunisation.

He told the D&S Times: "The best independent medical brains in the world have looked at all the information and if there was any suggestion that the triple MMR vaccine was harmful, then they would have lobbied the Department of Health to stop its use.

"The fact is that a wealth of studies across the world show no association between the triple vaccine and autism or inflammatory bowel disease.

"I think what we have here is a moral hazard between seizing a business opportunity and providing high quality evidence-based health care.

"It is not necessary for parents to spend large amounts of money immunising their children. How on earth they arrive at that cost I do not know."

The charge was justified by the clinic which said providing the service three times inevitably pushed up the cost.

Kathryn Durnford, spokeswoman for Direct Health 2000, said: "We wouldn't be in business if we were not out to make a profit. However, we do have the most competitive fee in the whole of the UK. The cost covers overnight accommodation, travel expenses and fees for four nurses, one doctor and four administration staff, the cost of hiring the room for the clinic and the vaccine itself.

"We did not set out to provide outreach clinics like this. They have been born out of demand by parents.

"Science is difficult to prove 100 per cent but we can't ignore rising levels of autism in children since the triple MMR came out - a fact that is also mirrored in the States."

Dr Snider added: "We recognise the right of parents to choose. However, going back to single shots is a backward step. If parents have concerns they should talk to their GP."