Teenage pregnancies increase by 48% in Torbay
Teenage pregnancies in Torbay have increased by 48% in a year, new government figures show.
In the first three months of 2011, there were 39 cases per 1,000 women aged 15-17 in the area.
This rose to 58 per 1,000 in the first quarter of 2012, the Office for National Statistics figures said.
Torbay Council, which is aiming for a rate of 36 per 1,000 in 2013, said the figures were "disappointing".
In 2008, the borough's rate of 64.9 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-17 was the ninth highest in England and Wales.
That led to a £250,000 campaign to reduce teenage pregnancies in the borough.
Chris Lewis, Torbay councillor for health and wellbeing, said: "The first quarter of 2012 is bad, but our figures show that the next quarter will be down quite considerably.
"Torbay is a great place but we do have areas of very high deprivation with troubled families and most of the figures are from deprived areas.
"We are doing an awful lot to help them.
"It is all about education and we have done an enormous amount since 2008 when the figures were really high."
The rate of pregnancy of women aged 15-17 in England in 2011 - the latest figures available - was 30.9 conceptions per 1,000 women.