The UK has eliminated measles for the first time, global health leaders have said.

Elimination of measles or rubella can be verified once a country has sustained "interruption of endemic transmission" for at least 36 months, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The UK nearly achieved this in the 1990s but was set badly off course by the MMR scandal, which saw vaccination rates plunge.

Health officials said rates have now reached the recommended 95 per cent coverage level in five-year-olds.

The European Regional Verification Commission said the UK has now achieved elimination status as of 2016 for measles.