Sex advice text service to expand

More than 1,000 youngsters in Lincolnshire have texted queries to so-called "agony aunts" in a scheme aimed at cutting teenage pregnancies.

The Think project, run by Lincolnshire County Council, may be now be copied in Nottinghamshire and Rutland.

The 12-month project has handled queries on contraception, virginity, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and homosexuality.

The service is confidential and callers' numbers are not stored.

Information gap

If inquiries are too complicated to be answered by text, teenagers are given the national freephone Sexwise number.

Lincolnshire County Council, which spent £12,000 setting up the project, said it had proved successful in reducing teenage pregnancy rates and the spread of STDs.

The scheme was set up by the county's Tackling Teenage Pregnancy partnership.

Councillor Christine Talbot said: "Interestingly, the majority of calls to the service have been about relationships and puberty, which shows us that some young people still aren't getting the basic information they need.

"We hope other areas will adopt this innovative service and that it will eventually be available to all young people."