The number of young mums is set to rise as health chiefs admit they are powerless to stop teens getting pregnant.

In a report this week, NHS Croydon revealed it has failed to reduce teenage pregnancy rates for the last two years and would not achieve the government's target of halving the number of young mums next year.

Croydon has on average 55 girls in every 1,000 conceiving – which is well above the national average of 40 – and bosses believe because the rate is so high it would be impossible for them to meet the government target.

But Councillor Tim Pollard, cabinet member for children, said Croydon should ignore statistics and focus on taking care of the teenagers and their babies.

He told the Advertiser: "Young people have children because of a variety of different circumstances and there is no simple reason to explain it. It is a mixture of educational attainment, self worth and parental support.

"But it is not simply about statistics. We need to focus on doing the best job we can to take care of these women and their babies. Targets are targets but we are talking about people's lives."

Emma Bridges, who started a programme called Wise Up in a bid to reduce teen pregnancies in New Addington, said the borough should swap the "safe sex" rule for a "save sex" mantra.

She explained: "We need to teach these girls self worth and self respect. We need to look at why the pregnancy rate is so high when there are all these schemes in place.

"These girls feel lost, they want something to love which will return their love."

Ms Bridges, who runs a weekly drop-in centre at New Addington Community Church in Dunley Drive, every Monday from 6pm, is calling for the scheme to be rolled out across the borough.

As well as failing to reduce teen pregnancies, NHS bosses had a catalogue of missed targets, including leaving people in casualty waiting rooms for more than four hours.

Some patients were left waiting for an ambulance more than 30 minutes after calling 999. They should have been waiting no more than 19 minutes.

NHS Croydon blamed swine flu for its poor response time to less urgent calls in the report, claiming it was inundated by calls during the pandemic.

The trust also said it will put more category B, or less urgent ambulances, on the road.

Other key areas to work on were breast cancer screening, stroke care, smokers, cervical smears, dental care and hospital waiting times.