An Oxford support group for teenage mums and dads is looking for new recruits.

The group, Tap 2, which uses the Cuddesdon Corner Family Centre, in Blackbird Leys, has proved such a success since it started two years ago that its young members are now setting up their own support groups.

Parentline Plus support co-ordinator Debi Redding, who leads the group, wants new parents to get involved.

Ms Redding said Tap 2, which stands for Teenage and Parent, was formed as an offshoot of the county's many Teenage and Pregnant, or Tap 1, projects.

She said: "In Tap 1, young mums and dads get support and the chance to get together with other young parents for the first three months after their babies are born.

"But up until two years ago, when they finished at Tap 1 there was nowhere else for them to go for that support. That is why Tap 2 was born."

Ms Redding added: "Tap 2 is a multi-agency group with children's centre staff, midwives, health visitors and Connexions workers, all working in the background.

"But it is the young parents who make all the decisions and run the group as they want, from deciding what they talk about, to the activities they do and even what they eat while they are here.

"When the first group started, the parents were pretty taken aback by the fact they were making the decisions, because they were used to being patronised because of their age.

"Our aim is to empower them to make their own decisions and in doing so help each other solve their problems and difficulties."

Tap 2 member Natalie Whiting, 19, from Oxford, has an 18-month-old son. She said: "I live on the other side of Oxford and it takes me two buses to get to Tap 2, but it's worth it.

"I'm proud to be a young parent, so please don't think this is a group for embarrassed, hard-up and clueless teenagers with babies. Far from it.

"We talk about things all parents discuss. We help our babies socialise and play, and we make friends."

Last year, the group made a six-minute film, If You Were Me, which talks about what it is like to be a young parent.

Ms Redding said: "Some of the original group have gone on to get jobs, or join college courses as a result of being involved with Tap 2. Now we want more young parents to come along to our group and enjoy the same success."

Tap 2 runs from 1-3pm every Wednesday. For more details, call 01865 260602 or email debire@parentlineplus.org.uk