Barking and Dagenham has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in London.

Data released by the Office of National Statistics today shows there were 40.1 conceptions per 1,000 under-18s in 2013 – a 4.7 increase on the previous year.

That figures compares to a national average rate of just 24.3 pregnancies per 1,000 girls.

In total, 154 women across the borough aged 18 and under conceived in 2013, although 59.7 per cent of those pregnancies ended in abortions.

Barking and Dagenham has the highest overall conception rate in England and Wales with 111 women out of every 1,000 getting pregnant in 2013 – 4,967 in total.

But Cllr Maureen Worby, cabinet member for adult social care and health, pointed out the 26pc drop in these figures since 1998.

She said the council is committed to supporting pregnant women.

“We want to support every young woman to succeed in life and help her to only become pregnant when the time is right,” she said. “Every baby deserves the best start in life and we do, of course, provide a range of health and childcare services for young mothers.”

Across the capital there were 170,900 conceptions in 2013, a drop of almost 3,000 on the previous year.