A pregnancy testing kit has gone on sale for just 99p - making it about ten times cheaper than many on sale in the high street.

The Fabulous 99s store in The Broadway, Crawley, which has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in West Sussex, has sold hundreds of the kits in the past few weeks as people stock up.

The bargain price was such a hit store boss Sajjad Hosen said scores of customers did a 'double take' and asked him if he had his prices wrong.

He said: "It has been very popular.

"We get a lot of people in here and I have seen people double take and then have another look to make sure they have seen right.

"In other places a pregnancy test can cost £10 or more. So 99p in comparison is nothing really."

But residents are furious the Treat and Ease Clear Response pregnancy testing kit was on sale for less than £1.

Mum-of-two Morag Henderson, 34, said she was horrified that children could 'pop in' and get a kit with their pocket money.

She said: "Children will think nothing of spending £1.

"I mean it's nothing. Most kids get £10 a week pocket money at least, so it's little more than a bag of crisps really.

"If we are treating sex so casually it's no surprise that the teenage pregnancy rates have shot up.

"These kits should be for people trying for a child, rather than used by kids to find out if they are up the duff after a one night fling."

Britain has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Western Europe.

Every day 21 girls become pregnant under 16, the legal age of sexual consent. Figures released in February showed that 39,000 girls under 18 became pregnant in 2006, more than 7,000 were under 16.

The national average for under 18s getting pregnant was 42 in every 1,000. Crawley had 44.2 pregnancies in every 1,000.

Tony Kerridge, spokesman for the sexual health specialists Marie Stopes International, said: "We have got the social aspect of young girls in the UK seeing having a baby as a route to getting their own place.

"These sorts of lifestyle choices can be dealt with on an educational level if teenage girls realise what they are contemplating is a route into social deprivation and being in the benefits culture for the rest of their lives."