The number of abortions carried out on North-East girls under the age of 18 leapt by 16% last year - an astonishing four times the national increase.

A total of 1,023 under-18s terminated their pregnancies in 2003, compared to just 880 the previous year, according to the department for health.

The rise was 14.7% in County Durham and Tees Valley and even higher at 17.5% in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

In contrast, the increase in under-18 abortions was just 1.9% in North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire - half the national average of 3.9%.

The overall number of abortions also rose sharply by 11.8% in County Durham and Tees Valley, but by only 4.1% in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

In North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire there were 2% more abortions in 2003, again below the national average of 3.2%.

Anne Weyman, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, immediately said the key to cutting the number of unplanned pregnancies was "good quality" advice and help.

She said: "Again we see more figures exposing the desperate need for investment in NHS contraceptive services, including support for the professionals trying to run them."

A department for health spokeswoman admitted the national figures - up to an all-time high at 17.5 abortions per 1,000 women - were "disappointing".

But she said: "No contraception method is 100% effective and there will always be women seeking an abortion, as they are legally entitled to do."

Previous years have pinpointed Middlesbrough amd North Tees as abortion "hotspots" in the North East, but this year's statistics do not contain figures for each primary care trust.

A breakdown of the figures revealed that the highest number in all three strategic health authority areas were carried out on women aged between 20 and 24.

And the majority were performed at under 10 weeks gestation. The highest proportion of terminations at 13 weeks or later was the 14% in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

The legal time limit for abortions in Britain is 24 weeks, unless the mother's health is in danger or the foetus has a "serious handicap".

However, a Commons campaign is underway to cut this limit, following the publication of pictures showing a 12-week-old foetus "walking" in the womb.

Last month, Tony Blair told MPs the law could be reconsidered and David Steel, the former Liberal leader who framed the 1967 Abortion Act, wants the limit cut to 22 weeks.