MORE than 500 abortions were carried out on Hampshire girls aged under 18 last year, new figures have revealed.

A total of 504 under-18s terminated their pregnancies in 2003 - a slight decrease from 506 the previous year, according to the government.

But the overall number of abortions rose sharply by 5.4 per cent in Hampshire and Isle of Wight - compared to the national average of 3.2 per cent.

There were 4,898 abortions in the county in 2003. In 2002 there were 4,648 terminations, according to the Department for Health.

Bishop of Southampton the Rev Canon Paul Butler has now called for improved sex education in schools to combat the worrying figures.

But teachers union leaders blamed the pregnancy trends on binge drinking.

Anne Weyman, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, said the key to cutting the number of unplanned pregnancies was "good quality" advice and help.

She said: "Again we see more figures exposing the desperate need for investment in NHS contraceptive services, including support for the professionals trying to run them."

A Department for Health spokesman admitted the national figures - up to an all-time high at 17.5 abortions per 1,000 women - were "disappointing".

But she said: "No contraception method is 100 per cent effective and there will always be women seeking an abortion, as they are legally entitled to do."

Previous years have pinpointed Southampton as an abortion "hotspot" in the south-east.

But this year's statistics do not contain a breakdown of figures for each primary care trust.

The figures revealed the highest number of abortions in the strategic health authority area were carried out on women aged between 20 and 24 - 1,397.

And the majority - 63 per cent - were performed at under ten weeks gestation.

The proportion of terminations at 13 weeks or later was 11 per cent.

The legal time limit for abortions in Britain is 24 weeks, unless the mother's health is in danger or the foetus has a "serious handicap".

Earlier this year the Daily Echo revealed schoolgirl pregnancies across Southampton were rising.

Figures showed 239 girls aged between 15 and 17 fell pregnant during 2002-03 - compared to 194 in 1999.

And the teenage pregnancy rate in the city had increased to 64.6 pregnancies per 1,000 females under 18 - compared with a national average of about 42.

Bishop of Southampton The Rev Canon Butler, whose role also covers large parts of Hampshire, said: "Every abortion is a tragedy, both for the aborted child who will never grow into mature humanity and for the mother who endures loss and bereavement."

"Is there an answer? I think that it does not lie in more sex education.

"It certainly may need clearer and better sex education, including the fact that self restraint and saying no are entirely proper ways of behaving."

Don Allen, Executive member for education at the county council, said: "Obviously any increase is a concern but the figures I would most be concerned with is the number of girls becoming pregnant."