THE North-East has one of the highest levels in the country of children who consider suicide, according to shocking figures.

ChildLine revealed that 701 suicidal children called the charity from April 1998 to March 1999.

The charity's base in Leeds received 54 calls from children from Yorkshire and the North-East who were contemplating suicide or who had attempted suicide - an increase of 16 on the previous year.

The figure is the third highest in the country, behind the Midlands, which received 58 calls, and London and the South-East, which received 66.

A spokesman for ChildLine said: "Fifty-four may not sound like many but when you consider how high the population is in London compared to the North-East, it puts a different light on things."

He added: "The figures for Yorkshire and the North-East reflect the upward trend across the country.

"We can only speculate as to why more children may be calling about suicide.

"It may be due to an increased awareness of our service, but the background figures show that more young people are attempting suicide nationwide."

National Office of Statistics figures show that 19,000 youngsters commit suicide every year.

ChildLine's latest report says that half of all suicidal children come from one-parent families and that the poorest children are three times more likely to try to kill themselves.

One third of children who attempt suicide have been drinking or taking drugs. Bullying is the biggest cause of suicide attempts.

Of the 701 children who called ChildLine, a third had already attempted to kill themselves or tried to do so during the call, most commonly by overdosing or slashing their wrists.

ChildLine counsellors do everything they can to prevent the caller taking their own life.

They attempt to find out where the young person is and a supervisor will call an ambulance while the counsellor stays on the line. ChildLine can be contacted on 0800 1111.