The number of teenage pregnancies has fallen significantly new figures show.

NHS South West London say figures released by the Office for National Statistics indicate that between 1998 and 2010, most boroughs in the cluster achieved a reduction equally or surpassing the country's reduction of 24 per cent.

Merton achieved a reduction of 40.4 percent, with both Sutton and Wandsworth achieving reductions of over 35 percent.

These reductions put Merton and Sutton 2nd and 3rd respectively in a table of the highest reductions in outer London, while Wandsworth is ranked sixth.

Croydon saw a reduction of 29.3 percent placing them in fourth.

Richmond and Kingston also saw a reduction in line with the national trend.

Jonathan Hildebrand, Director of Public Health for NHS South West London said: "One of the reasons we may be seeing this dramatic reduction in teenage pregnancy is because of the dedicated work of the Public Health teams to improve sex and relationship education and access to contraceptive and local sexual health services.

"There have been a variety of initiatives conducted across the boroughs, for example, Sutton and Merton commissioned a sexual health service specifically for under 20s called 'Check it Out' which offers contraceptive advice and treatment in schools and youth venues.

"The boroughs also came together to provide a NHS South West London sexual health website for under 19s."