Cases of measles rose by more than a third last year in the wake of a slump in uptake of the MMR vaccine following unfounded concerns about its safety.

Data from the Health Protection Agency showed there were 1,348 cases in 2008 in England and Wales - a 36 per cent rise on the 990 in 2007. The latest figure underlines the surge in confirmed cases tracked during the course of last year, which saw the 2007 total passed as early as October. It is the highest figure since the monitoring scheme was introduced in 1995

Researchers said last month that hopes of banishing measles from Europe by 2010 may have been dashed by poor vaccination rates in a handful of countries, including Britain.

Experts at the Health Protection Agency described the figure as "very worrying", adding that most of the cases had been in children not fully vaccinated with combined MMR and so could have been prevented.

The latest data on the uptake of the MMR jab in England and Wales shows that 84.5 per cent received the first dose by their second birthday.

The number of pre-school children receiving both doses of MMR by their fifth birthday is 77.9 per cent.

The World Health Organisation says that 95 per cent of children need to be vaccinated to ensure herd immunity.

Dr Mary Ramsay, an immunisation expert said: “The year-on-year increase of measles across England and Wales is very worrying. Measles should not be taken lightly as you can never tell who will go on to develop the more serious complications of pneumonia and encephalitis.

“This is why it’s incredibly important to remember that measles isn’t a ’harmless’ childhood disease and that it is never too late to get your child immunised with the MMR vaccine.”

The data for England and Wales shows that there were 112 cases in babies under one and 265 in those aged between one and three-and-a-half.

There were 432 cases in children aged from three years seven months to 11 and 286 in youngsters aged 12 to 18.

Among those aged 18 and over, there were 252 cases. There was one case where the age of the person was unknown.

The number of measles cases in Britain has been increasing in recent years. According to the NHS, there were 739 cases in 2006, compared with just 70 in 2001. Health chiefs said that it was because of the relatively low take-up of the MMR jab over the last decade. This was triggered by now-discredited research by Andrew Wakefield that claimed there was a link between the jab and autism.

Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said that it was irresponsible for parents not to have their children vaccinated.

“I think it’s irrational, I think it’s putting children’s lives at risk. I can see no shred of benefit,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. There is no evidence that having vaccines separately is better. There are good reasons why it’s worse. It just seems to me almost irresponsible to give credibility to those views.”

He said that while there was only about one death from measles a year at the moment, that could rise dramatically if there was an epidemic. “We could see probably up to 100 deaths if we had a major epidemic. We simply shouldn’t be taking those risks.”