Parents to go to court for decision

The parents of two children locked in a bitter dispute over whether the youngsters should receive the MMR jab are taking the case to court.

In what is believed to be a legal first, the couple will appear before a High Court judge who will decide whether their children should be vaccinated.

The children's mother, a midwife in her thirties, believes the triple MMR jab is potentially dangerous and has banned her three-year-old daughter and other child from having it.

But the father is adamant they should be inoculated against measles, mumps and rubella. He is seeking a court order allowing doctors to give his children the jab.

Nobody in the case, which will be heard at Winchester County Court, can be named for legal reasons but the child's mother has said: "I think the safest thing for my child is to be an unvaccinated child in a society of vaccinated children."

"I am aware this may seem selfish but this is what is in the best interests of my child and not society at large."

The woman, who lives in southern England and is an American-trained midwife added: "The possible link between MMR and autism only adds to my concerns."

She said she had been inoculated as a child but her job alerted her to safety fears over the jab. "I had my daughter at home," she said. "I decided before she was born how I would raise her, and that she would not be vaccinated."

She added: "I can understand a child's right to health but it is abhorrent that a court can decide if my daughter would be vaccinated. The implications would be huge. What about a parent's choice?"

The case begins on Monday and is expected to last a week. It will be heard by Mr Justice Sumner, who usually sits at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

A clerk from Justice Sumner's office confirmed he would be hearing a case involving two children and immunisation, but refused to elaborate.

The mother's solicitor, Leanne Weatherill, based in Yeovil, refused to comment on the case.