A PRO-LIFE group is trying to re-launch itself in the region after a dramatic drop in the number of young women using its services.

From Tyneside to North Yorkshire, the Life pregnancy care service has seen a sharp decline in women contacting them for advice.

Despite some of the highest levels of abortion in England - 16,000 are carried out in North-East and Yorkshire every year - fewer women are seeking help from the group, it says.

While the group is best-known for supporting women who decide to have their babies, it also provides counselling before and after abortions.

In York, the situation is so bad that the local Life volunteer network has decided it will close down its office next month.

The situation in Darlington has also given cause for concern, with the number of visits by women seeking advice falling from 90 in 1999 to 23 during 2001.

Middlesbrough has also seen a sharp decline, while staff who run the office in Redcar, east Cleveland, say the number of people getting in touch has dropped from about 300 clients to between 150 and 200.

Christa Malkin, North-East press officer for Life, said: "It is extraordinary. We think the main reason why numbers have fallen so sharply is the lack of awareness of what we do."

While Life had seen contact numbers drop off nationally, the figures in the North-East are particularly alarming for the organisation.

Miss Malkin said it was vital to distance the group from any perceived links with violent pro-life organisations in America and from any attempt to impose religious doctrine.

"While we do have a lot of Catholics within our organisation, it is non-denominational and non-judgemental," said Miss Malkin.

She said it was "very frustrating" that specially-trained counsellors were sitting on their hands at a time when more young women were facing the trauma of problem pregnancies.

"We have no financial interest in what we do - our people are doing this from the heart," she said.

"There is no religious message going on here, we are simply here to help," she stressed.

Apart from counselling, the group also helps kit young mothers out with cots, prams and baby clothes.

The Life national hotline is (01926) 311511.