THE first clinic in York to offer children the single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines has reported a significant fall in the number of appointments made in the city.

But a spokeswoman for London-based Direct Remedies, which last year mooted plans to create a permanent base in the North, said the clinic would continue to visit York as long as there was demand for the service.

Spokeswoman Yohani DeSilva said the number of children immunised at a clinic earlier this month was around 30 - the lowest seen since the clinic was launched in the city last September - but there have been 45 advance bookings for the next clinic, at The Grange Hotel, Clifton, on Saturday, July 12.

The clinic, which was launched last September amid parental fears over the safety of the MMR triple vaccine, previously attracted over 100 bookings each time, with its second outing in the city attracting 120.

Mrs DeSilva said the number of appointments had also been hampered by mumps vaccine supply problems - a hitch which is affecting private clinics across the country.

She said: "We are not getting as many patients in York as we were, we were down to less than 30.

"We do have lots of inquiries, usually from word of mouth, so we know that people are happy with our service.

"We have had the peaks and now we are having the lows, it's just one of those things. But we will continue to offer a service, as long as parents in York want the choice for their children."

The Department of Health maintains that the MMR vaccine is the safest way to protect children from measles, mumps and rubella. The Department insists there is no link between the triple vaccine and autism or bowel disease, a conclusion backed up by medical research.

However thousands of parents are making claims that their child's autism was caused by the MMR jab, including the family of nine-year-old Rachael Hamilton, of Huntington, York. The case is due in court next April.

Updated: 08:37 Tuesday, June 17, 2003