Capital of teenage abortion

Five London boroughs have some of the highest teenage abortion rates in England, official figures reveal today.

Lewisham has the highest abortion rate in the country for girls under 16, at 10 per 1,000 last year, with Islington, Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust area, Wandsworth Teaching PCT and Southwark also in the top 10.

But many parts of the capital have succeeded in keeping down pregnancies among young girls.

Redbridge had the lowest teenage pregnancy rate in the country of two per 1,000, with four other boroughs also in the bottom 10, Newham, Richmond & Twickenham, Harrow and Kingston.

But for women aged 15 to 44, the 10 areas with the highest abortion rate were all in the capital.

Southwark had a rate of 41 per 1,000 women, compared with an average of just under 19 for the whole country, followed by Barking and Dagenham on 40; Lambeth, 39; Lewisham, 37; City and Hackney Teaching PCT, 36; Waltham Forest, 36; Greenwich Teaching PCT, 35; Brent Teaching PCT, 35; and Croydon 33.

MP Mike Penning, Tory health spokesman for London, said: "These are frightening figures for the country as a whole but deeply disturbing for London. This is probably the most graphic example of our broken society."

Overall, 198,499 abortions were carried out last year including just over 20,000 for girls under 18.