A SCHOOLGIRL is to help deliver a warning to other students over teenage pregnancies.

The 14-year-old, from Middlesbrough - where the number of gymslip mothers is higher than the national average - is taking the lead role in a video being shot this week to illustrate that pregnancy can be a high price for rushing into sex.

"It is a response to a major health education initiative running throughout Teesside," said Stuart Leeming, drama co-ordinator at Hall Garth School where the video is being made.

Out of every 1,000 births in Britain between 1995 and 1997, 44.8 were teenage pregnancies.

The figure for Hartlepool is 72.8, 71.6 for Middlesbrough, and just over 52 for Stockton and east Cleveland, during the same period.

Filming for the video is taking place at a Teesside comprehensive and in Scarborough.

Mr Leeming said peer pressure was a key factor.

"The story line of the video involves a teenager who thinks she iss pregnant, and her anxieties," he said.

"What we hope to illustrate to young people is that they need to think very carefully about whether it is worth having sex, and to recognise that dealing with a pregnancy can have a dramatic impact on their lives."

The school previously made a video warning youngsters of the dangers of under-age drinking, a film which is being used by schools and youth organisations across the country.

Thirty youngsters are taking part in the pregnancy video, which is being produced with the help of a £5,000 grant from Northern Rock. Grown ups including a real doctor take the adult roles in the video.