Mother who said vegan lifestyle meant she couldn't vaccinate children is overruled by judge

A mother who said her vegan lifestyle prevented her from vaccinating her two young children has been overruled by a judge.

The woman went to family court in a fight with her former partner over whether their children, aged two and four, should be given immunisations.

She said the youngsters were fed "fed only natural products" and feared there were "definite risks" to giving them injections against disease.

Her former partner disagreed and said the children should be vaccinated.

Judge Mark Rogers found in favour of the father, ruling that immunisation was in the children's best interests at a family court hearing in Lincoln.

Neither the mother nor father have been identified, though the judge said details of the ruling could be made public.

Earlier this year, another judge ruled that a baby should be vaccinated against infections which could lead to meningitis despite his mother's opposition.

A small minority of parents choose not to vaccinate their children over health concerns - many of which are unproven by science.

Some of those fears originated in the infamous Lancet paper published by Dr Andrew Wakefield suggesting that the MMR vaccine might cause autism - claims that were later debunked.

The NHS says that vaccinations are "quick, safe and extremely effective" for children.