A major new campaign has been launched in Bradford to cut the number of teenage pregnancies.

Health chiefs, front-line workers, young people and politicians gathered at City Hall in Bradford yesterday for the launch of 'Upfront - Sexual Health 4 Young People' to hear how the issue will be tackled over the next ten years.

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe - more than three times that of France and six times the rate in the Netherlands. In 1998 there was an average of 44.8 teenage pregnancies per 1,000 in Britain, with Bradford's figure even higher at 53.4.

Health workers aim to halve the city figure in under 18s over the next ten years and to substantially reduce it in under 16-year-olds. They will do this by ensuring better sex and relationships education, better sexual health services and better support for teenage parents and pregnant teenagers.

And there will be a poster campaign and leafleting throughout the district as well as a specially-created website detailing what support and advice is available.

The Bradford team is also determined to encourage teen-age parents back into education and employment.

Bradford's teenage pregnancy co-ordinator Jill Reynolds said there is no clear reason why rates are so high in Britain and Bradford. "Many young people have low expectations, feel they have no prospects and will end up on benefits," she said.

"Then there is ignorance. Young people lack knowledge of contraception and sexually transmitted diseases, of what to expect in a relationship, and what it is like to be a parent.

"Teenagers are also given mixed messages.

"Many think being sexually active is the norm, and parents are too embarrassed to speak to them. The result is not less sex but less protected sex.