Vulnerable children were subjected to "inappropriate and invasive" tests by a doctor who prompted one of the biggest health controversies of the past 10 years, it was alleged today.

Andrew Wakefield, who linked the MMR vaccine to autism, was described at a General Medical Council (GMC) fitness panel as having breached "some of the most fundamental rules of medicine".

The tests allegedly included colonoscopies, lumbar punctures, blood and urine tests, MRI scans and barium meals.

These investigations, carried out between 1996 and 1998, formed the basis for a paper in the Lancet medical journal in February 1998 suggesting a link between the measles, mumps and rubella jab and bowel disease and autism.

The paper seriously damaged public confidence in the vaccine, leading to falling numbers of parents immunising their children