A father whose three-year-old child was hospitalized with E coli last year is considering legal action against Public Health England.

Kyle Stark, from Blandford, contacted the Daily Echo after new cases of the infection, Escherichia coli O55, were confirmed in Dorset last week and the agency refused to provide the press with a specific location.

His daughter Kallie spent more than a month in Southampton Hospital being treated for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after contracting the bug at the Blandford Children’s Centre in November last year.

 “It was the most horrific thing I have ever had to deal with,” said Mr Stark, 24.

“Kallie was knocking on death’s door, she was on dialysis and was in intensive care for a week. I watched the doctors save her life.

“She still has kidney problems and we don’t know if she will ever recover fully.

“Kallie was the third case of E coli at her nursery before it was closed and cleaned, but if Public Health England had acted more quickly to inform the parents after the first case she might never have caught it.”

Two Dorset children are currently in hospital with HUS, one of whom is confirmed to have E coli, while three adults from the same household have been tested for the disease with two found to be infected. Test results are awaited on the others.

Mr Stark said: “They aren’t divulging any information about where children are getting it from.

“They should be making sure parents at the school affected by this new case are aware of the necessary hygiene steps they need to take.”

The agency said the latest outbreak was confirmed on Wednesday last week and it had taken steps to inform the public.

A spokesman said: “Action taken by Public Health England on this latest cluster of E coli infections includes informing the school attended by one of the children in hospital, contacting the relevant work places of adult confirmed and possible cases, and providing advice on infection control.”