PLANS to vaccinate everyone in the UK against a flu pandemic if a potentially-fatal strain emerges have been announced.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said 120 million doses would be needed to cover the population.

But he said the vaccine could not be created until the strain of any future flu pandemic was known.

The vaccination announcement was made as the Department of Health published its updated Pandemic Influenza Contingency Plan.

Experts have said it is inevitable a flu pandemic will emerge, which could kill more than 50,000 people in the UK.

It is widely accepted that the most likely route of a pandemic will be when avian flu in birds mutates into a form that is easily spread from person to person.

Fears that a pandemic will hit the UK have grown after cases of the potentially lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu were confirmed in Romania, Turkey and Russia.

The Department of Health has issued an information pack to GPs to help them prepare for a pandemic and to provide answers to patients.

The contingency plan outlines the measures being planned to deal with a flu pandemic. In the North-East, the cancellation of gatherings such as concerts and football matches is a possibility. Face masks could also be given to health workers.

The Government is buying 14.6 million treatment courses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, which should contain the early stages of the flu and reduce its severity.

Exercises to test contingency plans have already taken place in the North-East.

Dr David Walker, acting director of public health for the region, said: "The public sector has drawn up plans to meet a pandemic emergency and private businesses should also look at how they can maintain essential services."