THREE cases of fatal meningitis were recorded in Melksham within a five-month period sparking fears of an outbreak.

As residents were battling to cope with the tragic death of Kieran Smith in October, they were hit with a second bombshell in March when 10-year-old schoolboy Daniel Higgs died from the disease.

A third unidentified woman in her 60s was the last town resident to fall victim of meningococcal disease she died three days after Daniel. Lowbourne Infants School pupil Daniel, who lived with his mother in Savernake Avenue, died within hours of developing classic disease symptoms.

Jacqui Higgs, 37, described her heartbreak as Daniel's life slipped away in the space of two hours.

Pupils at Daniel's school in Ruskin Avenue were not vaccinated as they were not deemed to be at risk from the disease. A memorial book was signed by hundreds of pupils in memory of the football-loving boy.

Dr Bharat Pankhania, the consultant for communicable disease at Wiltshire Health Authority, was called in to look at the three cases in March.

Blood samples from all three victims were sent to Manchester but he dismissed fears of an outbreak, saying two cases in quick succession were not unusual for a town of Melksham's size.

The consultant said meningitis was an unusual disease, which could strike at any time and cannot be contracted through air or water.