FEWER women in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole fell pregnant in 2020, new figures show.

It follows a trend of falling conception rates across England and Wales, with the first year of the coronavirus pandemic having a particular impact on teenage pregnancies.

Office for National Statistics figures show there were 4,910 conceptions to women aged between 15 and 44 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in 2020, down from 4,914 in 2019.

They were among 817,515 conceptions nationally, marginally down from 821,089 the year prior and marking the fifth consecutive annual fall.

Women aged between 30 and 34 had the most conceptions, in the South West the conception rate among women in this age bracket was 123.6 per 1,000 people in 2020.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service said the pandemic and measures introduced in response "have clearly had very different impacts" on the reproductive choices of women of different ages and backgrounds.

This includes a steep 17 per cent drop in young pregnancies among girls aged under 18, with the conception rate plummeting from 15.8 per 1,000 girls in 2019 to 13.1 per 1,000 people in 2020.

The teenage conception rate is now at its lowest point since records began, having fallen every year since 2007.

In total, there were 12,576 conceptions to under-18s across England and Wales in 2020.

Of them, 75 were in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, up from 72 in 2019.