Hundreds of girls aged under 16 are being given the morning after pill.

During 2004, 164 children - some as young as 13 - received emergency hormonal contraception, according to official figures which also show girls under 16 are having abortions at the rate of almost one every two weeks in Brighton and Hove.

A total of 47 girls under the legal age of consent had abortions during the two-year period up to January 1.

Yet the true extent of unwanted conceptions among children is likely to be much greater, as the figures released by the Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust only include girls referred by the NHS to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.

Pro-life groups called for radical action in reducing unwanted pregnancies. Politicians responded by calling for more sex education.

Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper said: "The Government has been doing quite a lot in terms of sex education and advice to try and deal with the very real issue of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.

"Since 1997 there has been an emphasis on improved sex education and advice on the importance of contraception for young people.

"I think that is something that must be increased."

A report in February by an independent advisory group set up by the Government recommended a senior manager to deal with teenage pregnancies in every school.

Mr Lepper added: "There should be improved training for teachers with regards health and social education."

Hove MP Celia Barlow said: "These are worrying figures which I will discuss with my ministerial colleagues.

"I believe the Government needs to step up its action against teenage pregnancy."

The Government has pledged to halve pregnancies among under-18s by 2010 and £138 million has been allocated since 1998 to fund the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, which involves making the morning-after pill, condoms and sex education more easily available.

Under Government guidelines doctors and health professionals must respect the confidentiality of under-16s if they want to terminate a pregnancy.

Paul Tully, general secretary for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: "We regard these figures for Brighton and Hove with grave concern.

"We would suspect that in many if not most cases the morning after pill or an abortion is provided without their parent's knowledge.

"That is now Government policy and very strongly promoted that abortion can be provided in absolute confidentiality without telling the parents.

"The aftermath of an abortion is not just physical problems that can arise but there can be long-term emotional problems which can be exacerbated if the young woman's family and even GP are left unaware of what's happened.

"Sex education has been repeated now for decades as the answer to the problem of teenage pregnancy.

"Sex education has failed and will continue to fail unless it is understood that the promotion of abortion and contraception is not going to prevent teenage pregnancies. It's sending out all the wrong messages."