AN East Lancashire school will become the first in the country to offer free morning-after birth control pills to pupils.

The decision was today slammed by a pro-life group who said it was nothing more than a licence to have sex.

Fearns High School, Bacup, will pilot the scheme, aimed at cutting the number of teenage pregnancies in the region.

Latest figures show the under-18 conception rate for Burnley in 1998-2000 was 67.5 per 1,000 female population, much higher than the national average of 45.3.

An information and advice centre at Fearns will be led by a GP, the school nurse and a youth worker. The scheme was set up to deal with contraception issues but offers advice on all health matters.

The GP leading the twice-weekly sessions has been given permission to hand out the morning-after pill to pupils in some circumstances.

GMC guidelines say the pill can only be given in the best interests of the patient and the GP is bound by confidentiality not to tell her parents.

Today Tony Mullet, the North West spokesman for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, a pro-life group which campaigns for the rights of the unborn child, said: "The morning-after pill will not reduce teenage pregnancy, it is merely promoting the notion of having irresponsible sex at an age which is far too young.

"There are also potential health hazards with the pill which has never been tested on youngsters.

"Then there is the question of who is having sex with these young girls? Is the school promoting criminal activity?"

Government figures show girls in Hyndburn, Burnley and Pendle are also more likely to have abortions than anywhere in the county, with as many as eight under 16s per thousand having terminations.

In Rossendale, the average teenage pregnancies in 1999 for under 18s was 45.7. The worst areas for such pregnancies are also the most deprived, and ones where pupils are most likely to be excluded from school.

The drive to cut the number of schoolgirl mums follows the publication of the latest NHS performance ratings which show that the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Trust is performing below average in the area of conception below age 18.

Claire Jackson, teenage pregnancy co-ordinator for East Lancashire, said all the initiatives aimed to ensure young people were properly informed about sex and pregnancy and the choices they had.

She added: "We are trying to encourage young people to get the right information and make the right choices so that they do not have an unplanned pregnancy, but also to offer them support should they want to go through with a pregnancy."