BOSSES at a sex advice clinic today revealed a dramatic rise in the number of young people seeking help.

Visitors to the Brook Advisory Centre in Blackburn almost doubled in the past year.

Figures have showed that 1854 people received confidential counselling or contraceptive services between April 1 1996 and March 31 1997 - an increase of 85 per cent.

More than half the visitors were aged 16 and under. Over 800 people also phoned for advice and information.

Jack Leach, medical officer for Blackburn Brook, said: "There has been a dramatic increase in the number of clients using the service.

"In the six months of opening from September 1994, we saw on average between four and five clients per clinic. But by early 1997 this had increased to more than 10." He said 90 per cent of the visitors were women and girls.

One in seven visits included a pregnancy test and of these clients 69 had a positive result.

Almost 100 women sought help and counselling about unplanned pregnancy. Of these 13 chose to continue the pregnancy while 39 requested referral for termination.

The outcome of the others was not known. In one in four visits condoms were issued; one in five were for emergency contraception.

Dr Leach added: "While issuing contraceptives has been a common form of service provided by Brook, these statistics tend to confirm that advice, information and counselling has made up a large part of our work."

The Brook centre, at 54/56 Darwen Street, has applied for planning permission to convert an empty ground-floor office in a bid to expand its service. The refurbishment will cost about £130,000.

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