Mother 'fuming' over condom handouts for teenagers

Angry Samantha Fuller, 38, said she felt her role as a parent is being undermined after discovering the contraceptives in her daughter's room.

Hull agency Cornerhouse and East Riding Youth Service have confirmed their workers hand out condoms to children over the age of 13.

Mrs Fuller, who lives in Beverley, is lodging a complaint. She said: "My daughter's sexual health is my responsibility, it's not that of a stranger giving out condoms. I feel she is being encouraged to have sex and she is being encouraged to be deceitful.

"It's not right. I was fuming when I found out she has access to

condoms without me knowing about it."

Mrs Fuller said she wanted parents to know children are being handed condoms on the streets, without proof of age or identity. She said: "This person said 'We are handing out free condoms if you are interested'.

Mrs Fuller said her child was not sexually active and had taken the condoms "for a laugh".

She said: "I am not opposed to sexual education, but as parents we need to know what services are available so if our children come to us we can say 'If you are don' feel comfortable speaking to me you can go here or there'.

Cornerhouse chief executive Tish Lamb said: "The idea of street-based projects is to enable people who maybe don't have access to mainstream services having access to support, advice and anything they might need to know about sexual wellbeing."

East Riding youth service manager Jackie Brewis said: "Whilst also encouraging young people to delay sex and speak to their parents and carers, we also have a responsibility to offer them confidential advice and support with the aim to reduce teenage pregnancy."

Conservative East Riding councillor Kerri Harold, a mother of teenage daughters who represents Minster and Woodmansey ward in Beverley, said: "I don't think handing out condoms to 13 to 14-year-olds is going to get the (teenage pregnancy) figures down. It hasn't done in the past. I really think it is time for the Government to look at a new strategy."

Rates of teen births in the UK continue to be the highest in all of Western Europe: twice as high as in France, three times higher than Germany and four times higher than the Netherlands.

According to the latest figures, Yorkshire still has some of the highest conception rates in England.

In Hull 68.7 girls per 1,000 aged 15 to 17 became pregnant in 2008.