The rate of pregnancies among under 18s in Greenwich, Dartford, Bexley, Bromley, and Lewisham is at its lowest since records began, new figures show.

In 1998, when the Office for National Statistics first started compiling conception data by local authority, the pregnancy rate for teenagers aged between 15 and 17 was 63 per 1,000 in Greenwich.

By 2016, the year covered by the latest statistics, that figure had more than halved to 21.

In Bexley, the pregnancy rate for women aged between 15 and 17 was 37 per 1,000 in 1998, but had fallen to 16 by 2016.

Dartford's pregnancy rate was 17 per 1000 in 2016, compared to 39 per 1,000 in 1998.

In Bromley, the pregnancy rate for young women aged between 15 and 17 was 32 per 1,000 in 1998, by 2016 this had more than halved to just 13.

Lewisham followed the same pattern, in 1998 the pregnancy rate for teenagers aged between 15 and 17 was 80 per 1,000. In 2016 it was just 22 per 1,000.

Natika Halil, chief executive of sexual health charity FPA, put the "dramatic fall in teenage pregnancy rates" down to hard work from health and education professionals, as well as the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy which ended in 2010.

She said: "That's why it's so concerning to see the cuts to sexual health services across the country, which could so easily undermine this hard-won achievement, and mean that we see these results reverse in the coming years.

"Teenage pregnancy can be a result of many different factors, but we know it can be reduced by investing the right time, resources and expertise into services and education.

"It's important to remember that whether or not young people are sexually active, or choose to become parents, they should never face stigma or judgement.”