ELDERLY people in Darlington are being urged to have their flu vaccines as the take-up rate has dropped below previous years.

National scares about vaccine shortages and public apathy over the flu virus are being blamed for the disappointing figures as just over half of the target has been achieved.

Darlington Primary Care Trusts board's non-executive director, Tom Stebbings, said: "I am concerned that the flu vaccine figure is only 52 per cent.

"People really need to be reminded of the importance of having the vaccination."

He was speaking at a joint meeting of the trust and the professional executive committee.

During the past few months, district nursing teams and doctors' surgeries have been vaccinating people over 65 against the potentially dangerous virus.

The trust also hired a bus and transformed it into a mobile health clinic to reach people who found it difficult to get to their doctor's surgery.

Director of primary care Carole Harder said: "We are lining up our community nurses to try to get the figures up over the next three weeks.

"We are doing everything we can to make sure people are covered."

GP practices in the town escaped the worst of the national shortages, which were caused by a vaccine batch failure at a particular company.

All the practices in town now have stocks of vaccine for flu, which can cause serious health problems among older people and those who have chronic ailments.

Executive committee member Dr Hilton Dixon said: "There has been tremendous co-operation among practices to make sure vaccines are available. We don't want people thinking that the vaccines aren't there for them."