PHARMACIES are to hand out free morning-after pills to under 16s in a bid to help stop an increase in teenage pregnancies.

Bromley Primary Care Trust (PCT) statistics show pregnancy rates in Bromley's under-18s have steadily increased in recent years.

In 1998, 150 girls fell pregnant in the borough but this figure has risen annually and reached 177 by 2002.

The PCT has been working with the council, youth and voluntary agencies and young people to develop a strategy to reduce pregnancies by 15 per cent by January 2005.

The scheme will be run by four pharmacies which have signed up to guidelines for providing the service, which does not require a doctor's prescription.

PCT teenage pregnancy co-ordinator David Hamment said: "Teenage pregnancy in Bromley overall is not perceived as high but there are pockets, in the known areas of deprivation, where the rate is substantially higher than elsewhere in the borough.

"Research shows girls under 16 are the most likely to find it difficult to go to their GP or a family planning clinic for emergency contraception.

"They are embarrassed and afraid of being found out and are also worried about the costs they may face.

"This service is to make emergency contraception accessible to young girls. It's a tragedy when you get 14-year-olds getting pregnant. It totally scuppers their life."

Making the scheme available to over-16s would probably take costs beyond the PCT's budget, he said.

Piyush Amin, who runs Blackwells Chemist, Croydon Road, Beckenham, said: "It's to help young teenagers deal with the problem safely and also to point them to the right services and educate them, so hopefully they won't get into the same position again."

The pharmacies taking part are Blackwells; United Pharmacy, Croydon Road, Penge; London Lane Pharmacy, Bromley; and Crofton Pharmacy, Place Farm Avenue, Orpington.