A RARE envelope sent to a Huddersfield address 125 years ago is expected to fetch up to £800 at auction.

The envelope is topical - as well as valuable - because it proves that the controversy over the MMR vaccine is nothing new.

It shows the caricature of a skeleton, representing death, giving an injection to a baby.

The child's mother is seen being accosted by a policeman, reminding her of her duty under the Vaccination Act.

The name Jenner on the drawing refers to Sir William Jenner, who was the Queen's physician and who established the difference between typhus and typhoid fevers in 1851.

The envelope is addressed to Mr William Roberts, Currier, St John's Road, Huddersfield, and was sent from Dewsbury.

It features a one penny red stamp and is described by auctioneers Spink as "very rare" and "most attractive".

The envelope is among 260 which go under the hammer in London next Thursday.

They belong to wealthy American collector Louis Grunin and are expected to fetch more than £350,000.