The hospice, which relies heavily on charitable donations, is hoping to raise £75,000 to purchase the specialist beds, which will be included in every room.

Cuddle beds are wider than the standard hospital beds and are extendable to accommodate two people – providing patients with the opportunity for a partner, child, friend or pet to lie beside them.

The hospice currently has nine cuddle beds, which cost £15,000 each.

Recommended reading:

Speaking about this, head of fundraising at St Leonard’s, Channon Barlow, said: “Every family deserves a chance to be together at the end, and not have to say goodbye from a distance.

“We want to make sure that everyone who comes through our doors is able to benefit from that closeness when they need it most.”

Another member of the St Leonard’s team, Nikki Smith, shared her experience of the hospice from the other side.  

‘Somewhere along the way, I had stopped being his partner and became his carer’

The Healthcare Assistant was comforted during one of the most difficult periods of her life when her partner Darren became ill and was admitted to St Leonard’s.

She said she remembered sitting beside his hospital bed prior to the hospice and holding his hands through the rails.

 “I’d say goodnight from inches away, but it felt like miles apart,” Nikki said.

She added: “Somewhere along the way, I had stopped being his partner and became his carer.”

When Darren arrived at St Leonard’s, there was a cuddle bed in his room.

The larger, adjustable bed meant Nikki could lie beside him safely and comfortably.

She explained: “For the first time in a long time, we were together again.

“We talked, laughed and rested in each other’s arms. That closeness meant everything.”

To find out more about the Cuddle Bed Appeal and donate, please visit https://stleonardshospice.org.uk/cuddle-bed-appeal/.

A charred Russian tanker is drifting crewless towards Malta after being hit by Ukrainian drones, with multiple European countries warning of an imminent ecological threat to the popular holiday destination.

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Malta, a favoured holiday destination, is reportedly at risk of a “major ecological disaster”.

A burnt-out Russian ghost tanker is thought to be approximately 50 nautical miles southwest of the island, drifting without crew towards the archipelago. The vessel was attacked two weeks ago by Ukrainian drones and since then, the punctured 900ft Arctic Metagaz has been moving towards Malta.

Now, several European countries have issued warnings of an impending ecological threat. In a letter to the European Commission, seven nations stated that the “precarious condition of the vessel, combined with the nature of its specialised cargo” presented a “serious risk”, reports the Mirror..

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These countries have characterised the situation as a “dual challenge” – maintaining maritime safety and averting an ecological disaster in the context of EU sanctions imposed on.

Russia alleged that Ukraine utilised “uncrewed sea drones” to target the Metagaz in the Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Malta. The Security Service of Ukraine has yet to respond to the claim.

According to Russia, the attack occurred on 4 March and was launched from the Libyan coast. The vessel had previously been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for being part of Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet.”

Comprised mainly of elderly tankers, the fleet transports Russian oil and gas globally whilst circumventing Western sanctions. Authorities in Malta and Italy have been carefully tracking the wreck amid fears about possible pollution.

Rome stated the vessel was carrying “significant quantities of gas, heavy oil, and diesel fuel.”

WWF Italy cautioned in a statement: “A potential spill could cause fires, cryogenic clouds lethal to marine life, and widespread and long-lasting pollution of water and the atmosphere.”

It continued: “The affected area is of exceptional ecological value, with fragile deep-sea ecosystems and some of the highest biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin.”

Salvage specialists are already in Malta in readiness for the ship’s arrival in Maltese waters, whilst a specialist vessel is en route, a maritime source told AFP on Sunday.

Early reports suggested that the ship sank following explosions which triggered a fire on board. Libyan authorities stated the tanker went down approximately 130 nautical miles north of the port of Sirte.

Roughly 30 Russians were aboard the Arctic Metagaz, according to Russia’s transport ministry. They were all discovered “safe and sound in a lifeboat” by Malta’s armed forces, Maltese Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri confirmed.

However, Malta’s transport authority confirmed last week that the wreck was still afloat. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation recognised that the vessel was adrift in the Mediterranean and stated Russia’s continued involvement in resolving the situation would hinge on “concrete circumstances”.

It further noted that attempts to manage the situation – including surveillance, monitoring and other technical support – could potentially “undermine the integrity, effectiveness and the deterrent value of the EU sanctions regime”.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, revealed the ship was unmanned and was carrying 700 metric tons of various types of fuel along with “a substantial amount of natural gas”.

“The international legal norms applicable to the current situation imply the responsibility of coastal countries … for resolving the situation with the drifting vessel and preventing an environmental disaster,” Zakharova penned.

“Further involvement by the shipowner and Russia as the flag state will depend on the specific circumstances.”

Police have raised a crime for arson

A deliberate fire spread to a garden fence at the weekend. Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue were called to a fire in the Green End Road area of Cambridge at around 3.16pm on Saturday (March 14).

Firefighters arrived at a tree fire that spread to a garden fence. A fire spokesperson said: “At 3.16pm on Saturday, a crew from Cambridge was called to a fire in the open on Green End Road in Cambridge.

“Firefighters used a hose reel and small gear to extinguish a fire involving a tree which had spread to a fence. The crew returned to their station by 4.30pm.”

The cause of the fire was determined to be deliberate. Cambridgeshire Police are investigating the incident.

A police spokesperson said: “The fire service informed us at about 3.45pm on Saturday, March 14, that a garden fence had been deliberately ignited at Cook Close, Cambridge. A crime was raised for arson.” Anyone with information should call police on 101 and quote 35/19043/26.

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Over the past three-and-a-half decades, India’s software industry has created millions of white-collar jobs, spawning a new middle class driven by high ambition and strong purchasing power. This, in turn, has fuelled demand for apartments, cars and restaurants across top-tier cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurugram over the past 30 years.

Ammo Talwar, chair of UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce, which led the report, said: “The aim of the report is to act as an advocacy tool and rallying cry, that is a catalyst for ongoing analysis, growth, increased representation, equity and stronger collaboration, thereby building confidence in black music.

ALVARADO, Texas (AP) — A Palestinian woman who was the last person still in immigration detention after the Trump administration’s 2025 crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses was freed Monday after a year in custody.

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old from the West Bank who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, had been held in a U.S. immigration detention center in Texas since last March. Her detention was linked, in part, to her participation in a protest outside Columbia University in 2024.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m free! I’m free! Finally, after one year,” Kordia, with a beaming smile, told reporters after emerging from the detention center.

An immigration judge had ordered her released on bond three times. The government challenged the first two rulings, but Kordia was freed Monday on $100,000 bond after it did not challenge the third.

Kordia said she was looking forward to going home and hugging her mother “so hard.” But she also said she would keep fighting on behalf of people still being held at the detention center.

“There is a lot of injustice in this place,” she said. “There is a lot of people that shouldn’t be here the first place.”

Kordia was among a number of people arrested last year after the Trump administration began using its immigration enforcement powers on noncitizens who had criticized or protested Israel’s military actions in Gaza, many students and scholars at American universities.

Among them was Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student involved in campus protests. He spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail before being freed. Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University student who co-authored an op-ed criticizing her university’s response to Israel and the war, was detained for six weeks.

Others did not fight to stay — one Columbia doctoral student fled the U.S. after her visa was revoked and immigration agents showed up at her university apartment.

Arrests of activists like Khalil drew condemnation from elected officials and advocates. But Kordia was not a student or part of a group that might have provided support, so her case remained largely out of the public eye while her detention carried on.

Kordia said she joined a 2024 demonstration outside Columbia University after Israel killed scores of her relatives in Gaza, where she maintains deep personal ties. She was around 100 people arrested by city police at that protest, but the charges against her were dismissed and sealed. Information about her arrest was later given to the Trump administration by the New York City Police Department, which said it was told the records were needed as part of a money laundering investigation.

Kordia was arrested during a March 13, 2025, check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New Jersey. She was detained immediately and flown to Prairieland Detention Center, south of Dallas.

Federal officials have accused Kordia of overstaying her visa, while scrutinizing payments she sent to relatives in the Middle East. Kordia said the money was meant to help family members suffering during the war.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, had previously criticized Kordia for what she said was “providing financial support to individuals living in nations hostile to the U.S.”

The department said in an email Monday night, “The facts of this case have not changed: Leqaa Kordia is in the country illegally after violating the terms of her visa.”

“The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system, and will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country,” read the statement.

An immigration judge found “overwhelming evidence” that Kordia was telling the truth about the payments.

Kordia was recently hospitalized for three days following a seizure after fainting and hitting her head at the privately run detention facility.

At a hearing Friday, Kordia’s attorneys said she had a neurological condition that had worsened while in custody, putting her at an elevated risk of seizure. They reiterated that she could stay with U.S. citizen family members and did not pose a flight risk.

The immigration judge, Tara Naslow, agreed.

“I’ve heard testimony. I’ve seen thousands of pages of evidence presented by the respondent, and very little evidence presented by the government in any of this,” Naslow said.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on X that he asked for her release when he met with President Donald Trump last month

“I am grateful that Leqaa has been released this evening from ICE custody after more than a year in detention for speaking up for Palestinian rights,” Mamdani said.

___

Offenhartz reported from New York.

The reptile was seen on March 10, 2026, with the sighting coming as the species begins to emerge from hibernation during the early spring sunshine.

The sighting was made by Jim France, who sent in the photos to The Northern Echo.

An adder spotted in the North York Moors (Image: JIM FRANCE)

Over the last 18 months, multiple encounters with adders have been reported across County Durham, Tyne and Wear and North Yorkshire, with wildlife photographers, walkers and nature enthusiasts spotting the elusive reptiles in rural locations.

Experts say the sightings are expected at this time of year as warmer temperatures encourage adders to leave their winter hibernation sites and bask in the sun.

Where adders have been spotted

Reports and photographic evidence have recorded adders in a number of rural locations across the region, including:

• Rookhope, Weardale – Spotted on May 1 by Jake Lawson, a member of the Northern Echo Camera Club.
• Fatfield, Gateshead – Wildlife enthusiast Robert Wells reported a sighting near a fishing pond.
• Derwent Reservoir, near Consett – Christopher Bennett captured an image of an adder basking in the heather.
• Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve – Durham Wildlife Trust volunteer Malcolm Wilkinson regularly spots them while helping with habitat conservation.
• Pine Woods, Frosterley – A dog was bitten after disturbing an adder in the grass.
• Hamsterley Forest – Dora the dachshund was bitten after sniffing through the grass along a trail.

The latest North Yorkshire sighting highlights that the species continues to thrive in suitable habitats across the region.

An adder spotted in the North York Moors (Image: JIM FRANCE)

Adders favour environments such as heathland, moorland and woodland edges, landscapes common across the North East and North Yorkshire.

What to know about adders

Adders are generally shy and reclusive and will usually move away if disturbed.

They are identifiable by their distinctive zig-zag pattern along the back and typically grow between 50 and 80cm long. Some adders are melanistic, meaning they appear almost entirely black.

Although the snakes are venomous, experts say they pose little danger to humans when left alone.

Most bites occur when the animal is accidentally stepped on or handled.

Adder bites can cause pain and swelling and may require medical attention, particularly for young children, elderly people or pets.

Adders are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and are listed as a priority species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.

Conservation groups urge members of the public not to harm the snakes and to report sightings to local wildlife organisations to help monitor populations.

Volunteers, including those from Durham Wildlife Trust, continue to work to protect habitats that support the species.

Advice for walkers and dog owners

With adders becoming more active as the weather warms, experts advise people visiting rural areas to take precautions:

• Stick to marked paths where possible
• Be cautious in sunny, grassy or heathland areas
• Keep dogs on a lead in known adder habitats during spring and summer
• Never attempt to handle or approach a snake
• Anyone bitten by an adder should seek medical or veterinary attention immediately.

A Cambridge University worker has criticised dangerous potholes and damaged pavements on Sidney Street, St Andrew’s Street and Downing Street

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CambridgeshireLive readers have joined with a local resident who has urged Cambridgeshire County Council to find long term solutions to the city’s “dangerous” roads and pavements. Francesca Re Manning, who works at Cambridge University, said getting around can be difficult because of their poor condition.

She said the issue became clear when she had to use crutches after surgery. “It was tricky to get around. I also struggled with a pushchair and sometimes had to step into the road to avoid damaged pavements. It’s not safe, but it can feel unavoidable.”

Mrs Re Manning said many potholes are “huge”, posing risks for cyclists and drivers. “I know someone who fell off her bike because of a pothole and broke her hip. They’re even more dangerous in the rain because water hides how deep they are.” She also highlighted badly damaged pavements, pointing to Sidney Street, St Andrew’s Street and Downing Street as some of the worst.

Many slabs, she said, are “loose and cracked”, with pieces missing or poorly fixed, leaving them unstable. She fears some elderly people may avoid certain streets because they are worried about tripping. “I hear lots of people complaining,” she said. “Many say it’s a disgrace that Cambridge has such a problem with its roads and pavements.”

She believes the council should focus on lasting repairs rather than repeated patching. “The same problems keep coming back. Streets need proper resurfacing with materials that last.”

Cambridgeshire County Council said safe travel is a key priority and confirmed it has invested £43 million in additional highways maintenance since 2023. A spokesperson said Cambridge’s roads and footpaths see exceptionally high use and are regularly inspected. Residents are encouraged to report problems through the council’s website.

Commenter Archer3747 thinks: “They’re not interested in public safety. The roads and pavements should have been properly maintained, and the consequences are plain to see. No doubt the extra costs will end up being passed on to motorists.”

Brexit498 agrees: “It is inconceivable that the county council does not know which roads are in a desperately poor condition. Indeed, the potholes on the half marathon route were highlighted in yellow paint. If the council needs to know of some roads that have potholes try: Leys Rd; Hobson St /King Street; Ferry Path; Victoria Avenue; Malcolm Street.”

Banthebikes points out: “It’s not just Cambridge, it’s everywhere, surely every council has a duty of care to keep people safe?”

Desperatedanno replies: “ All the GCP’s pet projects should be put on permanent hold until this problem is sorted. They had the gall to put in seven car-breaking speed bumps in the space of a quarter of a mile in Barton, apparently oblivious to the fact that all road users are already facing a constant slalom between potholes on every street in Cambridge and the surrounding area. And yes, we pedestrians and cyclists are paying the same price.”

Sinnikal complains: “Market Street is the worst road we’ve encountered in Cambridge, with kerb edges sticking up several inches. In St Neots, the roads and footpaths are just as bad. One footpath has been reported to the county council repeatedly over the years, but nothing has been done. I’ve fallen there once and my wife twice, the last time needing help from two nearby workmen. I’ve stopped reporting it. The council clearly isn’t interested.”

Splodger agrees: “I’ve reported the lake near Shelley Road at least ten times in the recent past. CCC replied that it will be fixed within 12 weeks. No mention is made of the year they propose the work to be done however.”

Cambridge residents say they’re forced into the road to avoid broken pavements and huge potholes. Do you think councils are doing enough to maintain local roads and footpaths where you live? Have your say in our comments section.

The Tuesday letters page wonders why Microsoft doesn’t make more live service games, as one reader thinks Crimson Desert will either be a massive hit or a disaster.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Top three
I’ve just finished Resident Evil Requiem and I can see why it got so much acclaim. I basically agree with the GC review, including the bit about the last hour or so being ‘undercooked’. That felt like they’d run out of time or something because it all seemed very rushed and kind of underwhelming.

I won’t spoil some of the plot points, but I will say that the final boss battle was also very weak, in a game that already doesn’t have that many good ones.

Beyond that I really can’t pick a fault. I like the two characters, the villain was good, and they didn’t go overboard on the nostalgia. The graphics were great, it was pretty scary at times, and Leon was hilarious.

It’s definitely top tier Resident Evil but is it the best? It’s tricky for me but I would say that Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 remakes were slightly better. It’s a close run thing though and those three would be my top games. But at 30 years old it’s impressive there’s very few truly bad games in the series, and most of the best ones have been in just the last few years.
Stenton

No service
One thing about Sony (and Ubisoft’s) obsession with live service games is that I’m always surprised that Microsoft has made no attempt to make any itself. I think maybe Forza Motorsport was meant to be one, but they changed their mind? I’m not sure, as it’s not my type of game, but it’s literally the only one I can think of.

Not that I want them to, you understand, but how can Sony bet their entire business on them being a success, almost to their complete ruin, and Microsoft doesn’t think it’s worth doing any at all? I mean, Microsoft are not exactly against chasing some trends but how comes it’s never that one? I’ve never heard them talk about it either, because they could’ve claimed it as a positive as far as I’m concerned.
Lauft

GC: They do have Sea Of Thieves, and several pre-existing ones through their various acquisitions, but you’re right, their attitude towards the concept is surprising.

Very early memories
Thanks to Grackle for his mail of earliest gaming memories. The earliest game I can clearly recall playing was a Pac-Man knock-off on a clone of the Atari 2600 system called the Philips something-or-other, way, way back.

I’ve never seen or heard any references to that Philips system, so I looked it up – turns out it was released outside Europe as the Magnavox Odyssey 2, which I have heard of. Does anyone else recall playing it? (The Pac-Man clone was called Munchkin, by the way – not a bad game, I thought.)

After that it was the ZX Spectrum with Horace Goes Skiing and the rest is history. Hope that makes some of your readers feel a little younger.
Mickah

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

All or nothing
Up until recently I hadn’t even heard of Crimson Desert, now it seems to popping up all over my social media feeds.

It feels like, from what’s been said, it’s either going to be a game of the year contender or a buggy overambitious mess. Never before can I think of a game that, at least in terms of the critics’ consensus, could either be very well received or very poorly received.

I’m interested to see how the reviews will pan out.

Although a little part of me somewhat selfishly hopes it doesn’t get great reviews. I’ve only just bought Resident Evil Requiem and Pokémon Pokopia in the past week or so and don’t really have the time for a massive open world game at the moment, not to mention the money. And I know from experience if it turns out to be a great game then I’ll feel I am missing out.
matc7884

Celebrity developer
I didn’t know Michael B. Jordan was in Gears Of War 3, that’s pretty cool. It’s nice to know he’s a fan of games as well. Although, it doesn’t really show other than that. You get a lot of celebs saying they’re fans nowadays, because they’re all young enough to have grown up with it, but you never see that reflected in what they do.

Even John Carpenter being a fan for years only ended up with some dodgy looking Left 4 Dead clone. I remember when Vin Disesel, who as far as I remember is more of a Dungeons & Dragons fan, set up his own company to help make The Chronicles Of Riddick game. That was ages ago, and nothing more really came of it, but at least that showed a bit of an initiative.

Setting up my own developer is definitely what I’d do if I was rich and famous. If you say you’re a fan of games, then it seems the obvious thing to do to try.
Mengo

GC: He’d already been in The Wire by that point, so kind of. We’d imagine he counts Creed as his big break and that was four years after Gears Of War 3.

Thank goodness for Thank Goodness
Morning to ‘ye. Managed a few more hours on Thank Goodness You’re Here! to wrap up my third playthrough since its release in 2024. I’ve already extolled the slapstick, surrealistic splendours of this gem before, but even after a year and a half I still had a great big smile on my face throughout the diminutive salesman’s continual excursions into progressively peculiar situations.

I adored the elegant balance of the mundanity and magic in the small Yorkshire town setting, the pretty saucy visual gags, and intoxicating vivacity of the inhabitants, cleverly looping comedic structure, and outright outlandish, even outrageous, sense of humour – the scenario with the lactose-infatuated boy was questionable to say the least.

Sure, the actual gameplay is very simple and lacks any real nuance and depth, but as a portrayal of a wondrously amusing cartoonish place, replete with a feverish imagination and delightfully puzzling internal logic of a quaint and quirky English town, I thought it was a resounding success. One of the true hidden gems of 2024. It’s so rare to play a game that’s genuinely funny and feels so quintessentially and unapologetically British these days. I honestly couldn’t hold my tears during the inspired vegetable store vignette!

I urge the GC readership to support the fine folk at Coal Supper by buying Thank Goodness You’re Here! and apologies in advance for pontificating; but please don’t be a ‘ price shagger ‘ and purchase the game outside the sales if possible to amplify the appreciation. It’s only £15 to be fair.

We need more warm, zestful, culturally enriched games like this in development to offset the unflattering perception generated by all the charmless, insipid products that flood the medium. Can’t wait to see what these talented lot make next!
Galvanized Gamer

Everybody lives
Hearing about Bend Studio having a new game on the boil, it’s very hard not to say why did Sony keep them going and get rid of Bluepoint? I can’t think of anything Bend has ever done that’s been particularly good, and they’ve been around since the PS1 era – so they’ve had plenty of chances.

The obvious thing though, is why not keep them both? If Bend are somehow worth keeping then I don’t see an argument for shutting done anyone else. Especially not Bungie or Bluepoint.
Cordon

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Honouring the deal
I’ve a PS5 Pro and was very pleased with Digital Foundry’s conclusions from its tests on the first round of games, using Sony’s updated in-house upscaler PSSR.

Along with AMD’s FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS on PC and Switch 2, and with other tools like frame generation and ray reconstruction, it’s great to see these techniques steadily improving and offering the image quality of native resolutions.

The ultimate point of these techniques is to be able to offer advanced graphics and ray tracing at higher frame rates.

Even now Cyberpunk 2077 running at native 4K, ultra settings, with path tracing will humble a £2,000+ graphics card like the GeForce RTX 5090.

So, if we want graphics like GTA 6 with any hope of getting a stable 30 fps on current gen, or even 60 fps on PlayStation 6, then these techniques are vital.

With the update finally looking like it will deliver the quality mode 60fps box Sony touted and the extra 1GB of SSD storage, anyone who picked a Pro up for £560 during the recent sale got a good deal in today’s economy.
Simundo

Inbox also-rans
The PS5 Pro updates are all very good but why wasn’t this available when the console first came out. It’s like buying a Ferrari and being told it’ll only go 60mph for the first two years.
Xtro

I still liked the rumours that the next 3D Mario is going to be Donkey Kong vs. Mario game. Now they’ve established what DK is like to play as I think that would definitely be cool as a co-op or competitive game.
Purple Ranger

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: What’s the first video game you ever played?

MORE: Games Inbox: Who will win out of PS6 vs. Project Helix?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is buying physical video games becoming more popular?

An outbreak of meningitis is being investigated by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which says 13 cases have been notified since March 13, and has resulted in two deaths

Experts say the meningitis outbreak is the worst to hit the UK for at least 10 years.

One doctor has described the pattern as “very focused and affecting a lot of people” as thousands of students in Canterbury, Kent, seek precautionary antibiotics. Parents up and down the country have expressed concern at the grim news, particularly following the confirmation two young people have died.

But several experts have spoken to reporters about how students everywhere can keep safe — and what parents can do to help. Rob Galloway, an emergency medicine consultant at University Hospitals Sussex in Brighton, said students in shared accommodation can take steps to try to prevent the spread of meningococcal bacteria.

He also said, for instance, wearing a mask can reduce the likelihood of spreading the infection. Students were photographed on the University of Kent campus on Monday wearing masks as they desperately tried to dodge infection.

READ MORE: Timeline of killer Kent meningitis outbreak: From 2,000 people at club nights to tragedyREAD MORE: Wales mum in coma after brain infection turned out to be meningitis

There has been in recent years an alarming drop in take-up rates of meningitis vaccines offered to teenagers. Andrew Preston, a professor of microbial pathogenicity at the University of Bath, acknowledges this may be a factor in the outbreak, which he described as “extremely dangerous”.

“We haven’t seen anything on this scale for many years. In fact, I can’t remember the last time so many people have been struck down at the same time. In the past, we would see clusters of cases and they tended to be sporadic, but this outbreak is very focused and affecting a lot of people,” Professor Preston said.

And he stressed first-year uni students appear most vulnerable as they typically party together and have more social interaction than the other younger age groups. Groups of students attended events at Club Chemistry, a nightclub in Canterbury, recently, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says anyone who has done should take precautionary antibiotics.

Why are first-year students so vulnerable?

While up to 20 per cent of the general population carry the Meningococcal bacteria responsible, at the back of their throats, this rises to one in four young adults aged between 15 to 19. What makes students vulnerable is that they typically party together and have more social interaction than the other younger age groups, experts say.

Professor Preston, of the University of Bath, added: “We think that getting meningitis is completely accidental, caused by a breach in the nasal lining or something else that happens to allow the bacteria access into the bloodstream.”

Juliette, an 18-year-old sixth college student, died, her school confirmed yesterday. The teenager, of Faverham, Kent, was described as “incredibly kind, thoughtful and intelligent” in touching tributes.

When should I seek medical help for my child?

Students are being urged to keep an eye out for worrying symptoms in their friends, even if they have been vaccinated.

Professor Galloway, of the hospital in Brighton, told Good Health: “Having the meningitis vaccine does not completely rule out meningitis. The vaccines protect against some causes of meningitis, but not all.”

He stressed that acting quickly is vital and warns people not to wait for the telltale red rash that does not fade under pressure from a glass, as this can indicate the infection has spread beyond the brain and into the body.

“People will often develop a fever and confusion first, along with muscle and joint pain, and sometimes coughs and sneezes. Later, they may develop spots or a rash, which can be a sign that sepsis is developing.”

Is there a risk in shared student accommodation?

Professor Galloway continued: “The infection is spread via saliva and droplets, so it can be transmitted via shared utensils, cutlery, cups and even toothbrushes. Try to use your own utensils and keep surfaces clean and tidy, though the risk is low.”

Sharing cigarettes is also not advised.

Should my child wear a mask at university?

Because the bacteria is spread through the air in droplets, wearing a mask can reduce the likelihood of spreading the infection, says Professor Galloway, adding that wearing a mask may be a sensible choice for students at the University of Kent in crowded areas, but is not necessarily appropriate for all students everywhere.

How can I protect my child against it?

The ACWY vaccine offers protection against four types of bacteria that can cause meningitis: meningococcal groups A, C, W and Y. It is offered to teenagers aged 14 years old, and to people up to the age of 25 who’ve never had a vaccine containing meningitis C.

Professor Preston says uptake of the ACWY vaccine among adolescents is around 73 per cent, “so there are a lot of unvaccinated students which may reduce herd immunity”.

Meningitis B is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the UK, but while there is a vaccine the NHS only offers it to babies and those with specific underlying medical conditions. Otherwise. it is only available at private clinics and pharmacies including Boots and Superdrug. The course requires two doses which are usually taken one month apart and cost up to £200.