A SURVEY which claims that sexually active Welsh teen-agers have more partners by the time they reach 14 and a half than the rest of the UK shocked a Gwent church leader.

Figures from the Teen Love and Romance Sur-vey 2005, commissioned by Bliss Mag-azine, show that 75 per cent of Wales' sexually active teenagers have had a one-night stand and 86 per cent have had unprotected sex - 21 per cent above the UK average.

Up to 83 per cent of those questioned have had sex while drunk, while 5 per cent have also had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) - the highest rate in the UK.

Robbie Howells, senior minister of Newport City Church, was dismayed by the findings.

He said: "As a Christian it is terrible to read these statistics. I'm 36 years old and some of the things I did as a teenager were crazy, but I have learnt that is not the way to go.

"It doesn't help these kids to have promiscuous sex because there are so many disadvantages, such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs). That's why we say, 'no wed, no bed'."

But Karen Cleverly, pastor at Bethel Community Church, Stow Hill, was not surprised by the findings.

She said: "At this church we have dealt with a lot of young girls who get pregnant, so I'm not in the least bit surprised.

"Lots of girls around here get pregnant deliberately so they can move into a flat and escape a bad home situation.

"Although we are trying to educate them, we can't ignore them or there will be lots of abortions.

"We want to offer help and support rather than condemning them." The church is opening a drop-in centre in the Stow HiIl Community Centre on April 15, which will offer advice to girls on a range of problems, including pregnancy and underage sex.

Three trained crisis counsellors will be on hand and the centre will be linked to other agencies who deal with specific problems. The Oasis drop-in centre helpline (available from April 15) is 01633 213003.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal that in 2003 there were 164 conceptions of women below 18 years (54.7 per thousand) in Newport.

This was higher than the figure for Wales, 45.7 per 1,000, and England and Wales combined, 42.3 per 1,000. Blaenau Gwent had 60.4 per 1,000, Caerphilly 52.2, Torfaen 59.8 and Monmouthshire 32.9.