A NORTH-EAST area has the highest number of teenage pregnancies in the country.

Figures released by the Government show that young girls in Redcar and Cleveland are six times more likely than in some other parts of the country to conceive before their 16th birthday.

The area has the highest percentage of girls under 16 becoming pregnant, with a conception rate of 18.4 per 1,000 underage girls.

Despite the statistics, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council announced last month that the number of 15 to 17-year-olds getting pregnant in the area had fallen.

A report said the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed that 152 teenagers conceived in 2005, down from 173 in 2004.

The council said it has worked in partnership with a range of local health, school and youth service workers to introduce initiatives to reduce teenage conception rates.

Projects introduced since 2004 include:

l Sex and relationship education packages now available in the majority of primary and secondary schools.

l C-card scheme enabling 13 to 19-year-olds to receive free condoms, together with sex and relationships guidance and support.

l Free emergency contraception available in all pharmacies (funded by the local primary care trust). Emergency contraception can prevent a pregnancy if taken within 72 hours.

l Education programmes involving pupils' peers.

Councillor Valerie Halton, the council's cabinet member for health and social services, said: "The council also offers a range of services for young mums and dads to help them become the best parents they possibly can, and encourages them to return to education.

"This includes a Young Mums to Be course, which is the equivalent of an NVQ level one, and a Parents with Prospects programme."

But some experts claim the Government's policy on tackling the problem of teenage pregnancy -which includes parents being urged to talk frankly to their children about sex and making contraception available to under-16s -is actually making things worse.

Professor David Paton, an economist at Nottingham University Business School, said: "There has been a tendency for the Government's teenage pregnancy strategy to focus on creating schemes where teenagers can get the morning-after pill or other forms of family planning.

"The danger with this sort of approach is that it can lead to an increase in risky sexual behaviour.

"There is now overwhelming evidence that such schemes are simply not effective in cutting teenage pregnancy rates."