LONDON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A medical expert has claimed that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 may have caused more than 1,000 infant deaths in Britain.

    John Urquhart, an epidemiologist, made the revelation in a speech at a Nuclear Fr ee Local Authorities conference in London tocoincide with the 20th anniversary of the disaster.

    His research suggested the fatalities in the years following Chernobyl were higher in areas where the fallout plume passed overhead, Sky news reported on Thursday.

    The epidemiologist has studied health statistics in areas where"black rain" clouds passed over following the Soviet reactor explosion.

    In his calculation, there was an 11 percent rise in infant deaths between 1986 and 1989 in affected areas as opposed to 4 percent in other areas. And that translated into more than 1,000 deaths.

    His study also suggested that a downward trend in infant mortality in affected areas was interrupted in the four years after Chernobyl.

    The report quoted official maps as indicating fallout sweeping through southeast England including London before curving round westward towards Northern Ireland.

    It is estimated that around half of the land mass of England and Wales were potentially affected. Enditem