All children are to be offered the flu vaccine within two years after experts said it could save up to 2,000 lives a year.

The scheme will see all youngsters aged two to 17 given the vaccination through a nasal spray.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the Government on vaccination policy, said the flu programme should be extended to children because it could reduce the rate of infection by 40 per cent.

Healthy children are among those who are least likely to develop complications from being infected by flu, but their close contact with each other means they are more likely to transmit the virus to one another and other vulnerable people.

At present, over-65s, pregnant women and people with a serious medical condition, including children, are eligible for a seasonal flu jab.

The UK will become the first country to offer the flu vaccine to healthy children free of charge in a programme expected to cost £100 million a year.