Girls in a town with the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in West Sussex are to get quick access to the morning-after pill.

Fast Trax emergency contraception cards are being issued in Crawley to allow teenagers to see a doctor within 24 hours of unprotected sex.

This will allow them to be prescribed a hormonal emergency contraceptive, which can be taken up to 72 hours after sex.

The cards are being issued as part of a joint initiative between Crawley Primary Care Trust (PCT) and West Sussex Health Promotion, as part of a county-wide strategy to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies.

Crawley PCT health promotion specialist Becky Woodiswiss said Crawley was chosen for the six-month pilot scheme because it had the highest number of teenage pregnancies. The aim is to halve the conception rate by 2010.

Between 1998 and 2000 there were 267 teenage pregnancies in the town, a 53.7 per cent rate per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17.

It was followed by Arun with 256. The lowest West Sussex rate was in Adur with 112.

Ms Woodiswiss said: "We are not encouraging teenage sex with this scheme. It is happening anyway.

"We aim to lower the rate of teenage conception by getting out more information to young people about services available to them."

Teenagers can hand in the Fast Trax card to receptionists at any doctor's surgery in the town and they will be given a quick appointment.

Ms Woodiswiss said: "Receptionists have been trained and will make the appointment without asking any questions. Lots of teenagers have never made an appointment with a doctor and this makes it easy for them. They don't even have to speak."

Sexual health promotion specialist Caroline Lovett said the teenagers would be given the drug Levenelle.

She said: "It is not an abortive agent. It works by preventing the implantation of the egg."

The cards are being distributed at fashion and record shops and through youth workers and school nurses. It is hoped they will soon be available in the town's nightclubs.

The pilot is part of a Government-backed initiative to cut the teenage birth rate, which is the highest in western Europe.