TEENAGE pregnancies in Stoke-on-Trent have plunged to their lowest rate for more than a decade to end the city's shame of having the country's worst figures outside London.

The rate has fallen by a staggering 14 per cent in a year; an improvement seven times better than the average for England and Wales.

Government statistics for Cheshire and the rest of Staffordshire also showed progress, but less dramatic than in the Potteries.

The city's breakthrough was put down to targeting sexual health promotion services at teenage pregnancy blackspots and engaging better with young people.

It also revamped its focus on the problem and started aiming help at high-risk groups of youngsters.

Experts hope the trend will now signal the start of improvements in other areas such as smoking, heavy drinking and obesity, which have plagued Stoke-on-Trent for a generation.

Figures, covering girls aged between 15 and 17, show 275 pregnancies in 2008 to give Stoke-on-Trent a rate of 61.2 per 1,000, compared to 329 pregnancies the previous year and a rate of 71.4; the worst outside London.

Now eight cities have higher figures. Most are in the North and Midlands with Torbay in Devon being the only non-London local authority in the south with a worst record.

The national average rate is 40 with high teenage pregnancies mirroring areas of greatest deprivation. Better-heeled Cheshire recorded a rate of 34.5 compared to 35.2 the previous year, with the rest of Staffordshire showing 39.7, down from 42 for the 12 months before.

On teenage pregnancies, City North MP Joan Walley said: "This is great news and the result of a more targeted and focused approach.

"The lower figures mean that fewer girls will have their schooling interrupted and better educational achievement is linked to other benefits."

The huge fall follows years when the figures for the city were mainly worsening, but the latest rate is 10.6 per cent lower than in 1998.

The work of the city's Teenage Pregnancy Services unit has been so successful that 37 local authorities have asked for details of it, and manager Tracy Kirk will next month address MPs in Westminster Hall.

She said: "We were towards the end of a 10-year strategy, but all the pointers were that it wasn't having an effect, so we decided to start again. That was a risk, but one we had to take.

"There was already good support in place for the girls, but big gaps in prevention services. The first thing we did was to allow youngsters to walk into family planning centres without the need for an appointment.

"Then we started to target high-risk teenagers for group help through the schools, or one-to-one sessions with us, and 600 teachers and other professionals have now been trained.

"The groups we have identified have ranged from young offenders and school truants to those not in education or employment.

"We are delighted with these figures and feel our new strategy is sustainable enough to continue to narrow the gap between the city and the national average."

Lone parent charity Gingerbread has a unit in Catherine Court, Hanley, helping teenage mums.

Manager Wendy Lubacz said: "These are fabulous figures and we are working with the statutory bodies to help raise aspirations among our teenagers.

"We are already increasing their educational standards.

"By helping these youngsters achieve something it gives them confidence and that can help them avoid having a second pregnancy until they are ready."