A Strood pupil has died from what may be swine flu.

Medway council has confirmed a pupil has died at the English Martyrs school in Strood - but is unable yet to confirm whether it's swine flu.

A mum of a child who attends the English Martyrs’ School, who didn’t want to be named, said: “I can tell you a boy at the school has died but it’s not been confirmed if he died from swine flu.

“An email was out to parents this morning.

“I believe a mass will be held for him at the English Martyrs Roman Catholic Church in Strood on Tuesday.”

The reports follow latest figures that 29 British people have died of the illness and 652 people are being treated in hospitals across the country.

The Medway child is believed to be a boy of seven who lived in Strood.

Yvonne Doyle, Regional Director of Public Health, NHS South East Coast, said:

"We are currently investigating the death of a seven-year-old who died on Tuesday.

"The child was admitted to hospital with a range of complications which were not related to swine flu. The cause of death has not been confirmed and we are awaiting test results."

We will have further reports on this later in the morning.

kmfm reporter Jo Earle reports from the scene today

The news comes as doctors are treating 250 patients a day with swine flu in Medway.

Council and health workers have now finished setting up a swine flu dispensary in case the outbreak becomes a major concern for doctors in the Medway Towns.

The dispensary - which will not open unless the situation gets a lot worse - is at the Compass Centre in Chatham Maritime.

Dr Alison Barnett, medical director at NHS Medway, said the Compass Centre - a former council planning office - was on stand-by in case it was needed.

She said: "We expect we can handle the expected cases, but nobody knows, so it is right to be prepared.”

Thousands of doses of anti-viral medicine will be ready for distrubution at the centre from Monday.

Doctors want the centre to remain a flu-free zone.

People with sympoms of the virus will be told to stay away from the centre if it is opened. Instead, they will be asked to send a Flu Friend - a healthy relative or neighbour who can collect the medicine on their behalf.

Patients are being encouraged to treat themselves at home, unless the flu symptoms become serious.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the county, health officials have stopped giving exact numbers of swine flu cases.

This is because the containment phase is now over and swabbing has finished.

The Health Protection Agency will now begin to publish rates of flu within the population on a weekly basis, but these won't distinguish between swine flu or any other flu.