HUNDREDS of parents spent a sleepless night after being wrongly informed of a suspected meningitis outbreak.

Letters were sent home with pupils of Corpus Christi school in Boscombe after head teacher John Regan was wrongly told of suspected meningitis in a nearby kindergarten on Monday.

St Thomas Garnet’s kindergarten, opposite the school, had been closed due to a bacterial infection, which turned out to be impetigo.

But Mr Regan had already sent letters out warning of suspected meningitis and asking parents to look out for symptoms.

“I am a real worrier and everything was going through my head” said Joanna Gibbons, who has a four-year-old son at St Thomas Garnet’s.

“As soon as I found out about the letter from Corpus Christi I just panicked. I was frightened to go to work because I wanted to stay with my son and I also work at a different school so I didn’t want anyone there to catch it.”

Another parent, who does not wish to be named, has children at both schools.

She said: “I am happy with the way St Thomas Garnet’s coped with the situation but the letter from Corpus Christi made me worry. “I am relieved it is not as serious as was first thought.”

Mr Regan, head of the Roman Catholic Corpus Christi in Parkwood Road, said: “The letter was sent out with the very best intentions. “Everyone was acting in the best interests of the children and they have assumed the worst before there was a proper diagnosis.”

Mr Regan sent out another letter yesterday telling parents the infection at St Thomas Garnet’s had been diagnosed as impetigo, not meningitis. “I am delighted to tell you that this has turned out to be a misdiagnosis,” it said.