Teenage pregnancies in Bradford have fallen dramatically, beating Government targets.

The number of girls under 18 becoming pregnant in the district has fallen by 16.4 per cent since 1998. That beats goals set by the Government which aimed for a 15 per cent fall by next year and a 50 per cent decrease by 2010.

The latest figures, from 2000, showed 47.6 conceptions in under 18s per 1,000 people in the Bradford district. Of those, 30.1 per cent were aborted. And eight per cent of the total were born to under 16s.

The conception rate for England for under 18s is 43.8 per 1,000 people.

Teenage pregnancy co-ordinator Claire Whiteley said they were very pleased with the news. She said part of the success could be attributed to a new ten-year plan to tackle the problem in the city.

The Teenage Pregnancy and Sexual Health Strategy began in 2001 with one of its aims to tackle the causes of teenage pregnancy, including low expectations, poor academic performance, ignorance and being given mixed messages.

The strategy concentrates on four areas - marketing and media activities, such as getting young people to talk about sexual health; consistent sex and relationships education; how health services can be made more accessible; and supporting young women who are pregnant or think they might be.

Ms Whiteley said the strategy was not solely responsible for the decrease, but it had made the approach more co-ordinated.

"The strategy has given all the agencies an opportunity to speak to each other," she said.

Ms Whiteley said a variety of projects had been started as part of the plan, including a group for young mums at Bradford Royal Infirmary. "We have a childminding co-ordinator making sure the provision is acceptable so mums can go back into education, she said.

She said they were also planning to pilot innovative education programmes in schools and talk to GPs about confidentiality. Ms Whitely said the majority of young people they worked with were about 16, though some were as young as 13.

She said the aim to cut pregnancies by a half was ambitious. "That's a massive target," Ms Whiteley said.

"We need to recognise that not all teenage pregnancies are unwanted, there may be some that are wanted and we need to work with that group."

Councillor Kris Hopkins, executive member for community, said: "It is encouraging to hear all the hard work of the strategy is paying off and we are ahead of Government targets."