A NEW NHS walk-in centre at Manchester Airport, where female holidaymakers are being offered the "morning after" pill as they step off their planes, has been slammed by family campaigners in East Lancashire.

Father John Neville, a retired parish priest from Blackburn said: "This is immoral.

"It is just another sign of the permissiveness of our society.

"At a time when we are talking about reducing the level of unwanted pregnancies, particularly among the younger generations, it seems ridiculous that we are trying to solve those problems by throwing permissiveness at them.

"In my opinion this reduces us to the state of less than animals -- even they seem to behave better than we do these days."

But the Family Planning Association has welcomed the new centre claiming it is "an excellent idea".

Diane Lea from the FPA said: "Despite all the warnings, there is no doubt that people can, and do, have unprotected sex while on holiday and the more outlets there are available to obtain the morning after pill, the better as far as we are concerned. "This form of contraception is highly effective and very safe and there has always been an excellent take-up wherever it has been available.

"This latest venture at Manchester Airport is good news for us and we would like to see more.

"Of course the morning after pill is not just available to deal with the after-effects of holiday romances -- it could be used by married women who have had a tummy bug or something while on holiday that has reduced the effectiveness of their usual contraceptive pill.

"Being able to obtain a morning-after pill within three days of having sex could mean avoiding an unwanted pregnancy and that has got to be a step in the right direction."

The new centre at the airport has been in operation since last week and is manned by a team of 18 nurses.

It will provide a drop-in treatment service for up 18 million airline passengers who pass through the airport each year as well as 17,000 airport employees and the community of Wythenshawe in South Manchester.

A spokesman from the NHS said: "The centre is not just on hand to help deal with problems of a sexual nature.

"It provides an immediate contact point for people who are suffering health problems of any kind -- from bumping their head as they get off the plane to long-standing conditions they may need advice on."

ABTA, the Association of British Travel Agents, has also welcomed the new centre.

A spokesman said: "Health and Safety issues are important for people travelling abroad and having a health centre at the airport is obviously an advantage for passengers."