Children who are not vaccinated against measles should not be allowed a place in a Hertfordshire school, councillors in St Albans have claimed.

Conservative Cllr Richard Curthoys believes parents should have to prove their children have had the vaccinations before starting school.

Speaking at a St Albans City Council meeting last Wednesday, Cllr Curthoys said: "We need to protect all children adults and school employees against the spread of this potentially fatal disease.

"And we should make parents realise that we are not prepared to put up with any risks associated by irresponsible actions.

"So if you want to get your child a school place in Hertfordshire you should get them protected and prove it."

Presenting the motion to a meeting of the St Albans council, Cllr Curthoys pointed to a recent outbreak of measles in Europe, where 83,000 cases had been recorded.

And while he said the World Health Organisation recommended 95 per cent of the population should be vaccinated, in St Albans that figure was just 87.5 per cent.

Cllr Curthoys motion received unanimous backing of the council.

And now council leader Cllr Chris White will now write to Hertfordshire County Council – as the local education authority – to ask them what steps could be taken to ensure children are vaccinated by September 2020.

Meanwhile, during the debate it was also revealed that Mayor Cllr Janet Smith had suffered from measles when she was 18 months old.

And after caching an ear infection – quickly after the measles – she suffers from hearing loss in her right ear.

Labour Cllr Katherine Gardner said that the mayor’s experience alone should be enough for councillors to support the motion.

She said: "We should need no more incentive than our madam mayor’s story to resonate in our hearts and in our brains when we vote to support this motion.

"Vaccinating your children is a duty as a  parent. It’s not something that should be up for debate.

"These are horrible diseases when you catch them – they may seem like an irritation but they can become very very serious, very quickly."