Hartlepool has the most abortions in the North-East after a 12.5 per cent rise in terminations last year.

There were 314 abortions last year, compared to 279 the previous year, giving the town an abortion rate of 18 per 1,000 women.

It put Hartlepool ahead of Newcastle, Sunderland and North Tyneside, all of which had a rate of 16 per 1,000 women, according to the Department of Health figures.

The town also had the highest rate for under 18s, at 27 per 1,000. The next highest in the region was Easington (25), followed by Middlesbrough (23).

The highest rate for any North-East age group was for 18 and 19-year-olds in Darlington -48 per 1,000.

Women were least likely to have an abortion in Durham and Chester-le-Street (ten), followed by Sedgefield (12).

Overall, the region had a 3.3 per cent rise in abortions last year, slightly ahead of the 2.1 per cent nationwide increase.

There was a 3.6 per cent fall among under-18s -compared to a 1.3 per cent drop across England and Wales - in sharp contrast to a 16 per cent rise between 2002 and 2003.

The Department of Health described the rise as disappointing, but said an extra £40m was spent yearly to improve access to contraception.

Patrick Leahy, of pro-life Student LifeNet, said: "The Government must take immediate steps to reduce this horrific number of abortions by at least half through cutting the abortion time limit."

Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: "We should stop seeing abortion as a problem and start seeing it as a legitimate and sensible solution to unwanted pregnancy."

Terminations are allowed up to 24 weeks, but there is pressure to reduce that.