Chlamydia tests offered on beach

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Teenagers in a Dorset seaside town will be able to get tested for the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia while visiting the beach on Friday nights.

It is part of a campaign by youth workers in Bournemouth to stop 13 to 19-year-olds from having sex too young.

The youth club bus on the seafront will also hand out keyring condom holders.

Chlamydia is the most common sexual infection with 120,000 new cases diagnosed last year. Young people accounted for two thirds of cases.

It is known as the "silent infection", as it often shows no symptoms, but if left untreated can cause infertility.

Delay sex

In men it can cause painful, swollen testicles.

The R U Sure Ur Really Ready campaign also aims to cut teenage pregnancies, which figures showed were in decline in Bournemouth from the end of 2007 to early 2008.

There were 37 conceptions among girls aged 15 to 17 between October and December 2007, compared with 25 conceptions from January to March 2008.

The campaign bus will be on the seafront every Friday night throughout August, starting this week.

Tim Fewell, strategic lead for the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in Bournemouth, said: "This proactive campaign is very much focused on the idea of building relationships and encouraging young people to delay sexual activity until they are ready.

"It is also extremely important that we are realistic and where young people are having sexual contact, we need to ensure that they know about contraception, have access to quality information and an understanding of the consequences so they can make educated choices."