SOUTHAMPTON'S teenage abortion rate is the same as London.
Shocking statistics suggest that more than one in every 50 girls aged between 15 and 17 in the city had a termination last year.
Southampton's religious leaders blamed the rise on the increasing use of alcohol among teenagers and say both the authorities and parents should be doing more to educate youngsters about the problem.
The news also comes at a time when Southampton is missing a specialist teenage pregnancy adviser following the recent departure of their last counsellor.
The statistics, which have come from the Department of Health, show that 2.4 per cent of teenage girls in the city aged between 15 and 17 have a pregnancy termination each year.
That amounted to 89 teenage terminations last year.
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