At a recent event more than hundred club-goers at a Bridlington nightclub were tested for chlamydia. Officials haven't released figures of how many people were found to be infected by the "silent infection", so-called because it often has no symptoms.

However studies have shown that Hull and East Riding has the second highest rates of chlamydia in the country.

In Britain, the number of new diagnoses has been steadily increasing each year since the mid-1990s.

The national average is 10 per cent, but locally the figure is 12 per cent and rising.

The screening was carried out by the Department of Health-funded Chlamydia Awareness Screening Programme for Hull and East Riding (Caspher).

The team provided testing and advice to clubbers at Bridlington nightclub Utopia over a two-month period. Chlamydia is easily treated with antibiotics but needs to be treated soon to avoid further complications.

Left untreated, it can cause infertility in both men and women, ectopic pregnancy and swollen testicles.

Hull Teaching PCT, as well as East Riding of Yorkshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and East Riding Council's licensing team were involved.

Acting licensing manager at East Riding Council Tina Holtby said: "We recognise that the consumption of alcohol in licensed premises and sexual activity is closely linked and that there is a need to remind young people in busy clubs and pubs to take responsibility for their own behaviour and remain safe."

Similar events have taken place in Goole and Beverley and more screenings are planned in the next few months for pubs and clubs across the area.

The move to the East Riding follows a large-scale screening programme in Hull. Some 1,600 people were tested last year, one in six men and one in eight women screened tested positive for chlamydia.