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The owner of a nightclub at the centre of a meningitis outbreak in Kent has voiced her confusion to LBC over the spread of the deadly infection.
Louise Jones-Roberts, who owns Club Chemistry in Canterbury, told Tom Swarbrick two of her staff members are in hospital due to the outbreak.
Earlier, health chiefs confirmed the number of cases linked to the spread has risen to 29.
The venue – which is currently closed – found out about the first case after receiving an Instagram DM from a staff member at the UKHSA on Sunday evening.
Ms Jones-Roberts said she wasn't sure the message was genuine at first.
"We didn't really get a clearer picture until the next morning", she said, adding it started to "unravel" for them when they were made aware of the two fatalities the following day.
"It's just heartbreaking," she said, "That immeadiate sense of loss was overwhelming."
'We weren't sure whether it was genuine…'
Owner of Chemistry nightclub, Louise Jones-Roberts, tells @TomSwarbrick1 they were told about the meningitis outbreak via 'unorthodox' Instagram DM. pic.twitter.com/WqfGGlP5oD— LBC (@LBC) March 20, 2026
Ms Jones-Roberts read out a statement by the UKHSA in which they said the social settings can provide an "opportunity" for the bacteria to spread.
"The fact this happened at Club Chemistry was an unhappy coincidence," the statement she read out says.
She added it wasn't a "special" weekend with no major events, with around 2,000 people attending the venue.
The club owner added she hopes to reopen when it is safe to do so and when cases drop.
'Something isn’t making sense'
Ms Jones-Roberts urged for a wider vaccine rollout but herself has not been vaccinated, but she has had antibiotics. She also confirmed her staff have had antibiotics.
She also voiced her confusion about the how the outbreak spread.
"My point to the government has been, there's been a lot of talk about how hard it is to transmit, but then there's also, at the same time, saying the conversation is that nobody needs to panic and we don't all need the vaccine, but at the same time, the things don't quite add up.
"Actually, it was transmitted a lot more easily, by the looks of it, than they're suggesting, so something isn’t making sense somewhere.”