A new city centre health service for teenagers and young adults has opened its doors.

The new service – known as The Weekender – will provide health advice and help on sexual health, smoking, drugs, weight management and self-esteem.

Officials at NHS Leicester City are also hoping it will help cut the number of teenage pregnancies in the city.

Latest figures show that the pregnancy rate for 15-17-year old girls is 31.8 per 1,000.

Officials admit that while this is an improvement on previous figures more needs to be done to hit their target rate of 26 per 1,000 in the age group by the end of 2011.

The original plan was to set up an emergency contraception centre in the newly-converted Bowling Green Street centre, but youngsters who were asked to give feedback said they wanted more services in one place.

The service will cost £285,000 over three years.

Kirsty Reid, NHS Leicester City teenage pregnancy co-ordinator, said: "I'm delighted we've developed this unique service completely focused on the needs of under-25s."

The Weekender will be open from 3pm-8pm Monday to Friday and from 11am-4pm at the weekend.

Tim Rideout, chief executive of NHS Leicester City, said: "We are now beginning to make progress in reducing the teenage pregnancy rate and this is another way of helping to do that.

"We will also be watching a pilot scheme elsewhere in the country where girls are being offered the contraceptive pill over the counter at pharmacies."

The new service has also won praise from Public Health Minister Gillian Merron, who officially opened the centre yesterday.

She said: "This is going to be the gold standard of the NHS in Leicester and across the country.

"It is accessible and an environment young people find easy to come into."

Will Hough, 15, from Saffron Lane, was one of the youngsters asked for his views on the scheme.

He said: "I would much rather come to somewhere like here than go to my GP.

"We also thought it was much better to have one place where there was help available about different things that affect young people.

"It is also open at weekends which makes it easier for them to visit."

The Weekender is being run by the private company United Health Primary Care – which has also opened a new GP surgery in the same building – the third new practice to open in the city in the past year.

Anyone living or working in the city can register at the surgery which is open from 8am-6.30pm each weekday.

It is expected to cater for about 6,000 patients during the next five years.