ABOUT 20,000 young people in Halton are to receive a Christmas survival kit to make them aware of the perils of drinking too much over the festive season.

Advice guides in the shape of handbags and mobile phones will be distributed to high schools, community centres and youth organisations in a promotional campaign aimed at keeping 15- to 25-year-olds safer.

Promotional posters and leaflets will also appear in places used by young people.

Support group Young Addaction and Halton-based charity HITS will launch the promotional campaign this week supported by the Safer Halton Partnership.

The project comes in the wake of an increasing level of alcohol abuse among young people in the borough, which in turn has led to more anti-social behaviour, health problems and sexual assaults.

Jenny Owen, young people's substance misuse co-ordinator for the Halton Drug Action Team, said alcohol was the most common form of substance abuse in Widnes and Runcorn.

'The campaign is designed for young people to deliver key messages about safety,' she said.

Rachel Martin, of Young Addaction, said the campaign looked at the wider implications of drinking too much.

'We want young people to have fun but also to take care,' she said. 'Statistics show an increase in the number of people who have suffered sexual assaults as a result of being incapacitated. We've had people as young as 14 who have been assaulted.

'The use of date rape drugs is still happening so we are also giving away spikeys, which prevent tablets being dropped into bottled drinks.'

The campaign will continue into the New Year and is being supported by the work of an alcohol worker.

Teens warned of unprotected sex risk

HALTON teenagers are being warned about the dangers of unsafe sex in an attempt to reduce unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases over Christmas and New Year.

Halton's Preventative Services Mini Children's Trust is working with young people's services across Runcorn and Widnes to spread the word.

A promotional campaign was launched this week to encourage teens to be more aware of the consequences of unprotected sex.

Jenny Owen, young people's preventative services commissioning manager, said the festive period was a time when young people are more at risk of having unprotected sex.

'The implications of a casual Christmas fling can last a lifetime,' she said. 'We want to reinforce the key messages teenagers are already receiving through education and urge them to be more aware of the choices they can make and what services are available to them.'

The campaign aims to reach up to 20,000 young people across Widnes and Runcorn. Two information guides, aimed at young people and professionals working with young people, will be produced and distributed through organisations such as Connexions, youth service, schools, colleges and voluntary organisations.

Dramatic rise

COMPLACENCY over safe sex is being blamed for a dramatic rise in sexually transmitted diseases.

Diagnoses have hit a 10-year high, with chlamydia and gonorrhoea rising dramatically since 1995.

The number of people visiting sexual health clinics in the UK has doubled in the past ten years, with experts warning that complacency about safe sex messages had led to soaring infection rates.