Help is at hand for young, single mothers in Banbury.

Rachel House, in Dashwood Road, will provide temporary accommodation and support for up to 11 single young women and their babies.

Resident Emma, 18, with, from left, house manager Ruth Clacy, the Rev Lynda Spokes, Banbury Homes' deputy chairman Renny Gye, Cherwell District Council chief executive Grahame Handley and Banbury Homes' director Mike Blount, holding Emma's baby son, Aaron

The project will be run by Banbury Homes Housing Association.

The project to convert Dashwood Lodge, a former old people's home, was launched in November 2000, shortly after a report showed that, in some parts of Banbury, pregnancies among girls aged between 15 and 17 were twice the national average and three times the county average.