A YOUNG People's clinic in Hereford is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

It opened its doors in 1995 primarily to try to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies in the county.

Over the years, thousands of young people under 21 have been through, seeking help and guidance and there is no sign of its services diminishing.

No-one can tell how many babies it has prevented but while sexual activity among the young has gone up over the decade, there is a small reduction in teenage pregnancies.

The clinic, run by Herefordshire Primary Care Trust's sexual health team, is based at the Gaol Street Health Clinic and is open to both sexes.

The largest age group to take advantage is 16 to 18 year olds and not surprisingly girls, who bear the consequences of unplanned pregnancies, outnumber boys by three to one.

Most of them want to know about birth control and for girls, choices are the pill, injection, or implant.

The pill is first choice, followed by injection, necessary every three months and in third place implant, which lasts three years. For those who indulge in unprotected sex, the clinic also provides the morning-after pill.

For boys, apart from good advice, it is packets of condoms.

Girls tend to attend the Saturday morning clinic, which is held from 11.30am-2pm, in small groups giving each other support and up to 30 can be advised in any one session.

Dr Sarah Wilson, who is lead doctor for the Young People's sexual health clinics said: "One reason why the clinic has been so successful is young people know anything they discuss there is strictly confidential.

"It is also important it's run as a walk-in clinic, so an appointment doesn't need to be made in advance."

But the work of the health team is not all about handing out contraception. A lot of time is taken by doctors and other advisers helping to talk teenagers through sexual health matters and sometimes arranging specialist counselling for their young clients.

Also high on their priority list is the problem of sexually transmitted diseases.

Particularly troubling at the moment is chlamydia, spread by sexual activity and equally serious for both boys and girls.

Dr Wilson said that often, it had no symptoms but could lead to serious long-term consequences, including infertility.

There is no automatic screening but the Young People's clinic has started a Tuesday afternoon session specifically for chlamydia testing for boys and girls who request it.

Dr Wilson said it was easy to treat with antibiotics but these did not achieve an all-time cure - it could be caught again.

If a young person tested positive, it would be advisable to trace their sexual partners.