WORRIED parents have swamped a private North-East hospital offering separate injections for measles, mumps and rubella.

The clinic, in the Health Secretary's Darlington constituency, has signed up 300 families in 48 hours.

The news will come as a blow to Alan Milburn who has spent months urging parents to have their children immunised with the triple MMR vaccine available on the NHS.

The Government has been fighting a rearguard action over fears that the combined jab has side-effects.

Although the NHS insists there is no proven link between the jab and autism or bowel disease, thousands of parents have already opted out of the national vaccination programme.

The North-East families have signed up to have separate MMR injections after the London-based Direct Health 2000 organisation confirmed that it is to hold special sessions in Darlington.

A complete course of three injections, staggered over several months, will cost £240.

"We have had an amazing response in the North-East. The phones have not stopped ringing," said a spokeswoman.

The refusal of Cabinet ministers to say whether their own children have been immunised with the combined vaccine has fuelled public concerns about safety.

Some isolated studies have suggested that the triple vaccine could be linked to cases of autism and bowel disease, although a recent major study ruled out any connection.

More than two thousand families are suing four drug companies, including more than 40 from the North-East, alleging that their children have been damaged by the vaccine.

The response has been so strong that extra days are being hastily arranged at Darlington's private Woodlands Hospital to meet the demand.

And Direct Health 2000 says it is prepared to put on as many clinics as people want.

"We had such a demand from parents that we decided to go on tour," said Katherine Durnford, spokeswoman for Direct Health 2000.

The first sessions outside of London were held in Swansea, Bristol, Southampton and Liverpool.

Now, encouraged by the public response, the roadshow is coming to the North-East on February 16.

"We run a convoy, bringing our own doctors and our own practice nurses," said Ms Durnford.

"We are pro-vaccination but we are offering families the choice of having them separately," she added.

Ann Coote, 44, who helped found the action group Jabs when her daughter Rachel developed severe epilepsy and learning disabilities after the MMR vaccine, said she was not surprised at the demand for single vaccines in the North-East.

"People in high-up positions are saying that parents don't want to immunise their children, this just proves that it is not the case. They have only not immunised because it was MMR or nothing."

Mrs Coote, who lives in Bolton, Greater Manchester, said senior politicians should own up about their children.

For information about single vaccinations, parents can ring 020 885 91511 or register on-line at info "All the scientific evidence to date supports the safety and efficacy of the triple MMR vaccine.

"It is the most effective way of protecting children against three potentially very serious diseases."

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