THE number of teenage pregnancies in Wirral has continued to fall, official figures show.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows 89 teens aged 15 to 17 became pregnant from March to June in 2014.

It means there has been a steady decline in the number of teenage mums, which peaked at 276 in 2010.

Fiona Johnstone, Wirral’s director of public health, told the Globe: “We are pleased to see the data released yesterday indicates a continuing steady downward trend in teen conceptions for Wirral.

“There is still much work to do but there is a strong commitment across the local authority, NHS and voluntary sector to continue taking positive action to maintain our progress on this issue.

“There are dedicated services in Wirral delivering health promotion and prevention messages to young people.”

She added: “Among the measures are the ‘Wirral 0-19 programme’, which includes a school nursing service, where nurses and youth workers lead drop-in clinics on a weekly basis, along with other valued voluntary sector partners in most of our secondary schools.”

Hilary Pannack, chief executive of teenage pregnancy education charity Straight Talking, praised the work of local authorities and charities in helping reduce Wirral’s teenage conception rates, but sounded a note of caution.

She said: “It’s good news that the rate is falling in Wirral. Local authorities have worked very hard to keep the number down.

“However, I’m a little concerned that cuts could mean a further cohort of teenagers will lose out on sex education.

“It’s absolutely vital that we push to keep relationships and sex education on the school curriculum.

“We cannot afford to be complacent about these good results as there is a new cohort of young people coming along who need education and support to avoid teenage pregnancy and parenthood.”