Further evidence has emerged to disprove a link between MMR jabs and autism.

Scientists in Canada found that more children developed the disorder after MMR take-up decreased and thimerosal - a compound that is 49% mercury and was thought to have been linked to autism - was eliminated from vaccines.

The study, by researchers at McGill University Health Centre, confirms the findings of a Japanese study last year. The new research, which assessed 28,000 children, found that after thimerosal was phased out in Quebec in 1996, the autism rate rose from 52 per 10,000 to 70 per 10,000.