Teenagers in Oxfordshire receive 230,000 free condoms every year in a bid to stamp out sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies.

The £16,000 scheme, run by Oxford City NHS Primary Care Trust, supplies enough condoms for each of the 54,500 13- to 19-year-olds in the county to be given four.

Because they are bought in bulk, each condom costs about 7p -- compared with about £1 in shops.

The contraceptives are distributed by youth workers, drug agencies, GPs and the Terrence Higgins Trust -- an Aids and sexual health charity -- and is part of a drive to improve sexual health among young people.

Paula Jackson, the NHS trust's senior public health manager, said: "Every GP practice gets an allocation, but we're aware that we need to work with some of the practices so the condoms are easily available.

"It's very successful. Any opportunity to enable young people to have safe ways of having sex is good.

"With condoms it prevents pregnancy and STIs (sexually transmitted infections).

"Teenagers often feel embarrassed about buying them over the counter at a chemist, and they're also very expensive."

Public health workers are working hard to reduce teenage pregnancies and STIs, which are on the increase among young adults.

According to Government statistics, teenage pregnancy in Oxfordshire increased by 20 per cent between 2000 and 2002, when there were 320 and 384 conceptions amongst under 18s respectively.

Latest figures show that the number of STIs is also increasing. For example, workers at the Radcliffe Infirmary's gerito-urinary clinic recorded 1,204 cases of chlamydia in 2003, which was a 26 per cent increase on 2002.

Of all the diagnosed incidents, 875 cases -- nearly 73 per cent -- occurred among women aged 16-24.

Dr John Reid, the Health Secretary, last month announced a £300m national campaign to combat the rise in the rate of STIs, including £40m devoted specifically to contraceptive and other preventative services.

Martin Dickson, of the Terrence Higgins Trust, which is given 86,000 of the free condoms, said the Oxford scheme was very important.

Although anyone can ask for the contraception at the charity's office in Pembroke Street, Oxford, many are given to young people coming out of care or detention.

Mr Dickson said: "The cost of condoms is one of the factors that leads to poor sexual health. Therefore it's obviously effective to provide free condoms to high-risk groups, who are more likely to get STIs.

"Young people are generally very much a high-risk group. We run groups to work with young people in care and those in detention, because they're people who are more likely to miss out on normal sexual education.

"When they come out or are released, they can get condoms from us."

But critics claim the scheme encourages children to have sex, rather than teach them to build relationships and be sexually responsible.

Campaigner Eileen Wojciechowska, of Bampton, near Witney, said: "All these schemes are just knee-jerk reactions and are not working. They can churn out thousands of these products, but it's not actually reducing teenage pregnancies or STIs.

"We don't give out free cigarettes or booze, because they damage your health.

"Having early sex causes long-term health risks as well, so why don't we ban contraceptives as well.

"I would teach children to wait and learn about relationships. They're already bombarded with sex through the media and it's awfully difficult for them.

"When adults give them free contraception as well it enforces the message that they should be having sex."