(pounds) 20 proves a small price as morning-after pill sales soar;

Use of the morning-after pill has increased by 20% over the last year and two-fifths of supplies are now sold over the counter in high street chemists.

The number of women choosing to pay (pounds) 19.99 for emergency contraception has increased dramatically since the drug first went on sale in pharmacies in January.

And next year Schering Health Care, the company which makes the emergency contraceptive Levonelle, is to launch an (pounds) 800,000 direct advertising campaign to promote the drug. Posters advertising emergency contraception as the remedy for burst condoms and forgetting to take the regular contraceptive pill will appear in the major women's magazines and on the toilet doors of bars and cafes from March.

New statistics released by the manufacturers show that since January an average of 35% of all emergency contraception used was bought from chemists. During the month of November this figure reached 40%. And the publicity surrounding the availability of the drug has resulted in overall use increasing by one fifth.

The decision to sell Levonelle in high street chemists was highly controversial. Critics insisted that it would encourage promiscuity and unsafe sex. Until January this year, women had to go to a family planning clinic or their local GP for the drug, which prevents pregnancy by blocking the implantation of a fertilised egg in the womb if taken within 72 hours of sex.

Levonelle continues to be available free on the NHS, but the statistics show that many women prefer the convenience of buying it from a chemist.

A Schering Health Care spokesman said the company was pleasantly surprised at the speed with which the sale of emergency contraception over the counter had taken off.

"We were hoping sales would be this high, but we were not sure we would reach it," he said. "We might have expected it would take 18 months to reach that level.

"The perceived barrier of (pounds) 20 proved to be less of a barrier than expected. Women do not view (pounds) 20 as a lot when they compare it to how much they spend on a night out."

Schering Health Care thinks over-the-counter sales of Levonelle will stabilise at between 40% and 60% of its total market. The company hopes its massive advertising campaign, along with informing women that the drug is more effective if taken 24 hours after sex, will accomplish this increase.

"The advertising campaign involves two ads, 'Missed Pill' and 'Split Condom', which will begin to appear in the March editions of women's magazines. The ads will also be used in poster format in pharmacies and in women's toilets located in bars, clubs and cafes," the spokesman explained.

"The total 2002 investment will be in excess of (pounds) 800,000, and the objective is to raise awareness of Levonelle's availability from UK pharmacies. We also want to help inform women that the sooner they take Levonelle after unprotected sex, the more likely it is to work."

Earlier studies have shown that sales of emergency contraceptive pills are higher in city centres than in rural areas. The average age of women seeking emergency contraception from the pharmacy is 24, and 85% of users are over the age of 20.

Initiatives have been launched across Scotland for emergency contraception to be given out free from chemists' shops. Some pharmacists have argued that (pounds) 20 is a lot of money for young women from poorer areas to find.

In July Fife Primary Care NHS Trust announced plans to hand out the morning-after pill free from a selected number of chemists, in a bid to cut teenage pregnancies. And doctors attending the British Medical Association conference earlier this year backed a motion to make emergency contraception free over the counter.

There are about 12,000 abortions a year in Scotland, around 3000 of them involving teenage girls. Scotland has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe.

But churches and family campaigners did not welcome the increase in the use of emergency contraception.

Peter Kearney, director of media for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: "This increase in use is not surprising, given the desire of some health boards to promote its use and the free over- the-counter scheme in Fife. This may have heightened its profile but it will take a lot longer to tell if it has any impact on rates of abortion and teenage pregnancy.

"The important point is that, no matter how great the use is, it can have no impact on the increase of sexually transmitted diseases, especially in young people."

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