TEENAGE pregnancy rates in Worcestershire have fallen to their lowest level on record.

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics show there were 157 conceptions to girls under 18 in the county in 2015, a decrease of 20 per cent from 2014.

There were 16.3 pregnancies out of every 1,000 teenage girls in Worcestershire in 2015, compared to 20 out of every 1,000 girls the previous years.

Teen pregnancy rates in Worcestershire are well below those nationally – which are also at their lowest rate since records began.

Across England and Wales in 2015 there were 20,351 conceptions to girls under 18, a 10 per cent decrease from 2014.

That means there were 21 pregnancies out of every 1,000 teenage girls in 2015, compared with 47.1 in 1969 when comparable records began.

Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England, said: "It is good news that the rate of teenage pregnancy continues to decline, as it is linked to poor future health for both parents and babies.

"We want to maintain this downward trend and support young people to make informed choices so that they can secure the best possible future for them and their children."

Izzi Seccombe, chairman of the Local Government Association's community and wellbeing board, said: "The Government's decision to make sex and relationships education compulsory in schools will help young people to develop healthy relationships, delay early pregnancy, and look after their sexual health.

"However, we are concerned that all this good work could be put at risk by the false economy of cuts to councils' public health funding, and that the drop in teenage conception rates will be even harder to sustain.

"Getting it right on teenage pregnancy will not only make a difference to individual lives, it will help narrow inequalities and reduce long-term demand on health and social care services."

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said: "We are pleased to see that the numbers of teenage conceptions across the county are the lowest on record and have halved over the last two decades.

"Rates of under 18 conceptions across the county are 16.3 per thousand women, representing 157 teenage conceptions in 2015, a decrease of 20 per cent from 2014.

"The work we have undertaken has been informed by a range of national evidence of what does and does not work.

"High quality sex and relationship education in schools and having young person friendly accessible and effective contraception are the two key factors.

"Targeting those young people most at risk of teenage pregnancy such as NEETs not in education, employment or training), young people excluded from school, children in and leaving care and those in supported housing, has also proved effective. "While the latest figures are encouraging, there is still work to be done in ensuring that young people have all the information needed and are empowered to make informed choices about relationships, contraception and pregnancy.

"Sexual Health Services in Worcestershire have recently been relaunched and modernised. Information, advice, services and support for young people are all contained in a new one stop site knowyourstuff.nhs.uk/worcestershire".