Women have been warned not to use the controversial contraceptive Persona if an unplanned pregnancy would be completely unacceptable.

The advice comes after a review by medical safety watchdog the Medical Devices Agency which followed complaints about the natural contraceptive from women, GPs and trading standards officers.

The review found that one in 17 women each year will become pregnant because the Persona device wrongly identifies a fertile period.

This compares with one in 100 women on the pill and one in 50 couples using condoms.

The Vatican-approved computerised birth control kit which monitors the woman's menstrual cycle, was launched in 1996.

Based on the rhythm method, it was hailed as the biggest contraceptive breakthrough since the 1960s.

The kit contains a hand-held monitor and 16 hormone testing sticks, which are used to check urine samples during the first month of a woman's cycle.

A new kit of eight sticks, costing £8.95, is needed for each subsequent month.

The device displays a green light when the woman is not fertile and it is safe to have sex, and a red light when it is better to abstain.

Makers Unipath claim it has a 94% reliability rate, which means in every year an average of six women in 100 who use the method will get pregnant.

The computerised kit tests fertility levels

It is estimated that the device has been bought by 100,000 women across the country.

The Medical Devices Agency review started more than six months ago. Its results have prompted the deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jeremy Metters, to urge all women who are concerned about the risks of using Persona to seek advice from their GP or family planning clinic.

"For people who don't want to get pregnant Persona may not be a good idea." he said. "Couples must understand the risk that the woman may become pregnant."

While the Family Planning Association has welcomed the addition of Persona to the 13 other existing contraceptive methods, it warns that women who use it must be aware of its protection rate compared with other contraceptives such as the pill, which is 98% effective.

The association also claims it is most suitable for an older woman in a stable relationship who is considering a family at some point and would not be devastated if she became pregnant.

It is understood the MDA, which looks at the efficacy of medical devices, will send its findings to GPs, family planning clinics and hospitals in the next few days.

Last year, it emerged that eight women who became pregnant after using Persona have been granted legal aid to sue Unipath, a division of Unilever, and Boots, which sold them the system.

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