Swine flu spreading '“ now Butlins has been hit by virus

Butlins spokesman Tom Cassidy confirmed the employees were thought to be suffering from the H1N1 virus.

"They live off site and went home and are now being treated by their GP and they are on the mend," he said on Tuesday. "We hope to see them back next week."

They went off work last weekend because of their symptoms, he said. Mr Cassidy said no special measures to fight swine flu had been put in place among the rest of the site's several hundred workers.

"It is just the standard procedure '“ go home, stay at home, get medical help and, hopefully, bounce back," he said.

The illness's arrival comes as Butlins gears up for one of its most important years in Bognor. Its 20m Ocean Hotel is less than a month away from opening and bookings in general are 23 per cent up for August and September compared to last year as business booms.

But the site is far from alone in being hit by the suspected arrival of swine flu in the Bognor area.

There are suspected cases of the virus at both the town's community colleges. The mother of a primary school pupil is also keeping her son away from lessons because of fears she has the condition.

Bognor Regis Community College head David Jones told the Observer he was notified on Monday two of its students, aged 14 and 15, were suspected of having swine flu.

The procedure was for parents to inform the college if a GP had confirmed their children were suffering from swine flu.

The college would then inform other parents about the situation in a letter.

"We can't make a judgment on the health of a child. That has always been a parental responsibility," he said.

No alterations to the college's routine were being made because of the outbreak. He said: "We are a long way from having to do that. We are talking about two students out of 1,400 being affected."

It was also impractical to isolate the pupils' friends and contacts within the college because there was so much movement within the college throughout a week.

At Felpham Community College, headteacher Peter Cook has sent out a letter telling parents one of its pupils has a suspected case of swine flu.

"The pupil is receiving the appropriate medical treatment and recovering at home," he said.

"The school has been advised no other actions are necessary and the school will remain open as usual.

"The school is working closely with the Health Protection Agency to monitor the situation."

He advises parents whose child has an underlying medical condition, such as chronic respiratory or heart disease, to ensure they receive antiviral treatment if they develop flu-like symptoms.

"This can be arranged by ringing your GP and saying that you have received this letter from your school," he adds.

Laburnum Grove Primary School head Pip Otton said one of her pupils had been kept at home this week by his mother because she believed she had swine flu.

"I think that is a very sensible attitude. My advice to all my parents is if they think their child has swine flu to keep them at home for the sake of the other children at the school," she said.

"So much in this situation depends on goodwill and commonsense. I just hope parents have enough of that to care about other children."

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