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Girls as young as 10 are being prescribed the contraceptive pill, it has been revealed. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen found 23 girls under 13 had been given the Pill - two were under 10 years old.

They looked at data from GP practices and family planning clinics in Scotland.

The study in Archives of Disease in Childhood prompted claims that doctors may be breaking the law.

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The British Medical Association and the General Medical Council tell doctors girls of any age can be given the pill as long as they are thought to be mature enough.

However, in Scotland, having sex with a child aged under 13 is classified as statutory rape.

And if girls under 13 are prescribed the Pill, doctors are expected to report it to the police or a social worker.

But it is not known whether this happened in the 23 cases in the study by Professor Peter Helms and Dr James McLay.

A total of 1,376 girls under 16 were prescribed the oral contraceptive.

Dr McLay said: "One of the worries we have is that people who are under 13 on the oral contraceptive should be reported to social workers because they are being subjected to rape."

But the researchers said that the overall rate of oral contraceptive use among girls aged 10 to 16 remained low, despite the medical and social concerns about the sexual health of teenagers.

They pointed out that the UK has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe.

Lesser evil

A spokesman from the BMA said that if the girl was determined to be sexually active then, given the risks of pregnancy and abortion, it might be the doctor considers giving her the Pill "the lesser of other evils".

A spokeswoman from the Family Planning Association said: "This is highly unusual and there may well have been particular reasons why these girls were prescribed the Pill."

This could include menstrual problems such as heavy periods, she said, and pointed out that girls can begin having periods at as young as eight.

"GPs clearly have a responsibility to prescribe sensibly and they do.

"Ultimately, they have to make decisions on a case by case basis."

But Shadow Scottish health minister Shona Robison said the practice should be ceased immediately.

She said: "I think there are huge ethical, moral and legal issues involved here, given that it is essentially statutory rape for anyone to be having sex with girls that age."

She said the minister and the health department must look at the research and investigate where the practice is happening and why it is happening. "I would hope they would put a stop to it through the reissuing of clear guidelines."

BBC News

A special 'bounce room' for sexually frustrated pensioners is being built at an OAP home in Holland.

The Zierikzee Residential Home in Zeeland is set to open the new room next month.

It already has one booking from an 80-year-old resident and her husband.

The facility, already nicknamed the "bounce room" by the elderly residents, will offer couples a double bed, a fireplace and a bottle of wine.

Pensioners do not have to be married to use the room and are also allowed to invite prostitutes along.

More than 150 pensioners live in the home, many of which do not have their own rooms.

"Intimacy with a partner can be difficult in residential homes, and it's important for older people to have a normal sex life," said social worker Corma van der Vlugt.

She if this pilot project proves a success 'bounce rooms' could appear in old peoples' homes across the Netherlands.

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Italian designers have developed a hugging T-shirt for people in long distance relationships.

The T-shirt simulates the missing partner's breath, touch and heartbeat.

The 'F+R Hugs' T-shirt has fitted sensors that the designer claims realistically simulate a partner's caress.

It is based on information on body temperature, heart beat and touch transmitted by mobile phone.

The sensors are installed in the upper arms, back, hips, and shoulders of the T-shirt and recreate the physical pressure of a hug by inflating and deflating at a touch of a button.

The T-shirt was developed by Francesca Rosella, a graduate from the Ivrea Design Institute in Turin.

Ananova.com

According to school nurses, increasing numbers of teenagers are taking part in a group sex activity known as "daisy-chaining", but experts are wary of believing it is widespread. Described by nurses as "having sex in a similar way as swinging", the term "daisy-chain" comes from the gay community, says Dr Gary Wood, of the University of Birmingham.

He said it was hard to gauge how common the act was among young people as there were no statistics.

"Sometimes these stories get pushed out of all proportion," he cautioned.

However, he said the prospect of engaging in something deemed unsuitable could be tempting for young people.

"People tend to explore sex. There are lots of images in the media and in advertising about sex, but it's still repressed, it's still forbidden.

"As something that is seen to be in need of regulation, it is seen as more dangerous to young people."

At the Royal College of Nursing conference in London this week, Judy McRae, a sexual health nurse in London, said: "Colleagues are coming across reports of groups of young people having sex in large groups.

"It is known as daisy-chaining and is obviously very worrying as far as sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy is concerned.

"As we understand it, it involves groups of older teenagers going round to each other's homes and having sex in a similar way as swinging.

Explicit queries

"It is very new and is only just starting to be talked about."

Dr Wood recently took part in sexual health workshops in Birmingham with about 500 young people aged 14 to 16 - and the concept of "daisy-chaining" did not arise.

"But the questions they asked left nothing to the imagination," he said, adding that "nothing surprises" him about sex.

"For most teenagers, the first they would know of 'daisy-chaining' would be when they read it in the papers."

The group sex nature of the activity would raise questions of sexuality for males, Dr Wood said.

"Young men are frightened of being labelled gay. One of the strongest elements of peer pressure for boys is not being labelled as gay," Dr Wood said.

However, the issue of sex among teenagers did highlight the need for nurses to be trained in giving sexual health advice.

Talking the talk

Jan Barlow, the chief executive for young persons sexual health charity Brook, said: "It's also essential that every young person has comprehensive sex and relationships education in schools, which not only teaches them how to protect themselves but also gives them opportunities to discuss issues such as how to resist peer pressure to take part in unwanted sexual activity."

Spokeswoman Catherine Evans said that, while she was not aware how common "daisy-chaining" was, young people often felt that "everyone else" was having sex.

"This is usually not the case - we know that the majority of young people don't become active until late in their teens."

She added that there was a "tendency among young people to talk about sex more than they are actually doing it".

BBC News

A Dutch schoolteacher has been asked to stay at home for a week after posing nude for a magazine.

The pictures of the teacher, named only as Ingrid in Foxy magazine, have been the talk of the traditional village of Harkema.

An employee of the village supermarket said the issue of Foxy magazine featuring the teacher had sold out locally.

The teacher posed for the photographer of the magazine during an erotic fair, reports Het Nieuwsblad.

A spokeswoman for the Holdersnest prep school said: "She has not been suspended but we asked her to stay at home in order to calm rumours down.

"As a teacher you have to set the example, but the case isn't serious enough to have her dismissed."

Foxy say they are stunned by the fuss and announced plans to publish more pictures of Ingrid in the next issue.

Ananova.com

A new study says fat men are less likely to stray than their thinner counterparts - but not through lack of opportunity.

The German survey found that overweight men are more faithful because they had less inclination towards risky sex.

Market researcher group Forsa say men of average weight are more than twice as likely to be unfaithful as fatter men.

Overweight men are not only less likely to cheat on their partners, but are also less likely to visit brothels or call sex hotlines.

One thousand German men between the ages of 31 and 69 were questioned by the researchers.

They found 23% of men in the "normal" weight category admitted to being interested in a bit on the side, while just 11% in the "fat" category said they would cheat on their wives or girlfriends.

A further 19 per cent of men considered "moderately overweight" said they would have an affair.

The researchers say that it is not a lack of opportunity that make heavy men a less risky option, but simply that their wish for risky sex decreases.

Sascha Rusch, an expert for men's health, said fat men were not less sexually active than their slimmer counterparts but they "seldom rise to the challenge of a sexual adventure".

Ananova

Women will be richer than men by 2025 and own 60% of the UK's personal wealth, a new study suggests.

The rise, up from 48%, will be due to women performing better in education, having higher levels of single home ownership and a longer life expectancy.

Researchers found there are 24% more women millionaires aged 18 to 44 than men - 47,355 compared to 37,935.

There are also more women millionaires aged over 65, the Centre for Economics and Business Research study said.

The study, which was carried out for financial services group Liverpool Victoria, based its predictions on existing figures on personal wealth, education, home ownership and working patterns.

It drew attention to the fact that in 2004, 70% of women aged 16 to 64 were in work, compared with 56% in 1971.

Meanwhile, over the same period, the proportion of men in employment has fallen from 92% in 1971 to 80% in 2004.

Commenting on the trends, a spokeswoman for Liverpool Victoria said: "This change will come about due to the rise of a cohort of financially sophisticated younger women, adding to the traditional sources of female wealth such as marriage and inheritance."

Long-term planning

However, Liverpool Victoria did suggest that the financial future where women were concerned was not entirely positive.

It found that women were less likely to engage in long-term financial planning than men, with women being half as likely as men to have a stakeholder pension - 4.2 million men compared with two million women.

And single women are also far less likely than the national average to have mortgage protection, employment protection or permanent health insurance.

BBC News

A saucy Edwardian-style biscuit tin decorated with disguised sex scenes by its disgruntled designer is expected to fetch up to £150 at auction.

The Huntley and Palmer tin, made in the 1970s at the company's Liverpool factory, appears on first glance to show an idyllic lunchtime scene.

On closer inspection, the illusion of tranquility is shattered by drawings in the background of a naked couple.

These are said to have been added by a designer who had just been sacked.

The tin will be sold at Bonhams Auction House in Bath on Monday.

Amid the scenes of ladies and children lunching around a table at a Manor House, are said to be those of a man and woman locked in an amorous embrace in a flower bed.

The tin also depicts two dogs mating behind a tree and a jam jar decorated with an obscene label.

The late additions to the piece were only spotted after the biscuit tins had been produced and sold around the country.

Patrick Toynbee of Bonhams said: "Huntley and Palmer are famous for their decorative biscuit tins which adorned British tea tables for almost a century.

"However, there is also a well-known story passed on amongst collectors that when one of their employees received notice of being fired, he decided to decorate some of the tins in a manner which would make his displeasure with his employers very clear, not just to them but also to their customers."

But Mr Toynbee goes on to say the added saucy images are "not clearly visible".

"Obviously the company wasn't even aware of them and the first they heard of it was when a grocer alerted them.

"Since then the tins have become widely known as the 'Disgruntled Employee Biscuit Tin', a very apt name for them indeed," he said.

BBC News

Police in Romania have caught a serial dater who invited women for romantic meals at expensive restaurants, then ran off, leaving them to pay the bill.

Police say good looking romeo, George Hodoroaba, 23, struck dozens of times in the town of Suceava in eastern Romania.

He was finally caught after restaurant owners were issued with a photofit image of his face.

Five women have so far come forward to officially register a complaint against Hodoroaba, who was well-dressed with expensive suits when he approached them in bars and clubs to invite them for a "romantic meal".

A police spokesman said: "He was always generous with the order, he would demand the best wines and told his female guest to have whatever she wanted.

"But in every case, he would say he had to make an important phone call and needed to go outside where reception was better, and then would simply vanish. In three cases, he even borrowed the girls phone to make the call - and disappeared with that as well."

Hodoroaba faces two years jail if convicted, and police believe the real number of victims is far larger than the complaints they have received, but say most women would probably be too embarrassed to come forward.

Ananova.com

A German inventor claims to have created the world's most sophisticated robot sex doll.

The sex androids developed by aircraft mechanic Michael Harriman from Nuremberg have 'hearts' that beat harder during sex.

They also breathe harder and have internal heaters to raise the body temperature - but their feet stay cold "just like in real life", according to Harriman.

He said: "They are almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing, but I am still developing improvements and I will only be happy when what I have is better than the real thing."

The dolls sold under the Andy brand name are on offer for £4,000 each for the basic model, with extra charges for adaptations like extra large breasts.

Underneath the silicon skin, developed for use in medical surgery, is an electronic heart that beats faster during sex.

The model can also be made to move by remote control, wiggling her hips under the bedclothes and making other suggestive movements - all at the touch of a button.

Harriman said his design was an improvement on the popular 'real dolls' sold in the USA.

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