A doctors’ surgery has removed all magazines from its waiting room in a bid to stop the spread of swine flu.

St Bartholomew’s Medical Centre, in Manzil Way, East Oxford, has put up notices informing patients of the precautionary measure, which it hopes will reduce the risk of infection.

Practice manager Sian Edwards said: “One of the doctors felt it was a sensible thing to do, rather than have lots of things which people can touch.

“We have taken them out as a precautionary measure.”

One visitor to the health centre, George Wormald, said the measure had left a lot of ‘very bored people’ in the surgery waiting room.

He said: “The only thing to read was the swine flu information leaflet, which I then put down for someone else to pick up and read.”

An Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust spokesman said there was little risk of catching flu from magazines, adding: “The PCT is not recommending the removal of newspapers and magazines from reception areas. However, we do support this good practice in regard to infection control.”