A DRIVE to cut the number of teenage pregnancies is making only slow progress in the North-East, according to new figures.

The number of conceptions among under-18s fell by 4.7 per cent between 1998 and 2003, compared with a nationwide decline of 4.4 per cent.

Some North-East districts did show significant falls over the five-year period, including Durham, with a decline of 42, Gateshead (25), Darlington (21) and Redcar and Cleveland (19).

But there needs to be a dramatic drop in teen pregnancy rates if the Government is to hit a key target.

Now local authorities will be told their "hotspot wards" by the Office for National Satistics, to enable them to direct help where it is most needed.

A teenage pregnancy strategy launched by Tony Blair in 1999 allocated £138m through to March this year to cut the number of conceptions among under-18s.

It set targets to halve the conception rate between 1998 and 2010 and to increase by 60 per cent the number of teenage mothers in education, training or work.

A spokeswoman said the Department for Education and Skills was training more teachers to give sex education lessons and recruiting more school nurses.