THE TRAGIC deaths of seven young people in and around Bridgend is a worrying phenomenon.

There is talk today that the young people, ranging from just 17 to 27 were all linked although they did not all know each other.

The fear is also being expressed that their deaths are the result of copycat suicides.

Apparently it is not unusual for people to be influenced by the suicide of close friends or relatives.

The alarming situation in Bridgend is that the deaths appear to have been fuelled by conversations on social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook, which raises further worries about the influence of these sites.

Another young girl is believed to have self-harmed in the days after the death of the latest girl Natasha Randall who was found hanged at her Blaengarw home.

Normally suicides are treated with the utmost discretion by the public and the media but the circumstances of these untimely deaths mean the families must now face the full glare of publicity.

A taskforce of police and health professional has been set up in Bridgend to try to understand what has been going on there.

But there must also be a full inquiry into what has gone on with the full results being made public to try to make sure this does not happen again.