CHILDREN as young as 13 are being given free condoms in a bid to tackle teenage pregnancy.

Hampshire County Council is offering free contraception to youngsters on some secondary school sites, colleges and youth drop-in centres even though the age at which children can legally have sexual intercourse in Britain is 16.

The council is getting £8,000 of government money to buy condoms over the next year for the county-wide scheme, called Get It On.

The aim is to reduce teenage pregnancy rates. While under-18 conception rates have dropped in Britain, they are still the highest in Western Europe.

But critics say greater availability of condoms to very young teenagers makes them more likely to have sexual intercourse.

According to official figures 2,133 babies were conceived to teenagers aged 15 to 17 in Hampshire and 386 to girls aged 13 to 15 between 2002 and 2004, the latest figures available.

This does not include the figures for Portsmouth and Southampton which are collected separately.

In Winchester about 2 per cent of girls aged 15 to 17 get pregnant and more than half have abortions.

Jayne Shelbourn-Barrow, acting manger of the county's pregnancy unit, said "We know that one of the reasons young people don't use condoms is they have to pay for them."

Ms Shelbourn-Barrow said young people were only allowed free contraception after confidential counselling and were encouraged to talk to their parents.

She said: "Parents will be made aware the service is available, for instance at a youth club, but not if individuals get condoms because young people under-16 have a right to confidentiality with regard to contraception."

The Get It On scheme is aimed at young people over-13, but the vast majority are 16-plus, said Ms Shelbourn-Barrow.

Two secondary schools in the county - in Andover and Havant - have clinics handing out free condoms during the school day.

But elsewhere in the county the scheme is run in colleges and out of school hours, for example at Connexions youth drop-in centres.

Ms Shelbourn-Barrow dismissed suggestions that free contraception in schools and other community settings encouraged under-age sex.

She said youngsters given advice on contraception were both more likely to delay the age at which they had sexual intercourse and more likely to use protection when they did.

"We are certainly not encouraging young people to have early sex with the scheme at all. The work we do is more about improving self-esteem issues and delaying until they are ready.

"A lot of our work is not giving out condoms to use for sex but talking about relationships."

The Hampshire Teenage Pregnancy Partnership, which includes the county and district councils as well as the NHS and voluntary organisations, gets government funding to reduce the conception rate among the under-18s and support teenage parents.

This year it has a £300,000 budget to support the education of teenage mums as well as educate young people about sexual health and parenthood.

But John Groves, senior pastor at Winchester Family Church in Stanmore,said he was opposed to free condoms for the over-13s.

He said abstention was the most effective form of birth control for young people and should be taught in schools.

Mr Groves said: "In my opinion it is not a good thing to facilitate under-age sex which technically is illegal. Sex education needs to be frank but should be in the context of a loving and committed relationship."

Mr Groves said he was also concerned parents were not informed as they were ultimately responsible for their child's welfare.

Conservative MP Angela Watkinson attempted to bring in a private members bill requiring GPs providing contraception to a child under-16 to inform his or her parents but the bill was voted out at the first reading.