Experts are to be sent into every school in Bridgend as part of an urgent strategy drawn up to halt the spate of suicides in a small area of South Wales that claimed a 17th young victim yesterday.

After months of denying any link between the deaths, police chiefs finally admitted that young people in the town now saw killing themselves as a way of dealing with their problems. Assistant Chief Constable David Morris said: “These are vulnerable young people. Taking one’s own life may be becoming an acceptable option to young people for issues that they are facing.”

Schoolchildren will now be encouraged to talk openly about their problems and to confront the consequences of suicide.

The body of Jenna Parry, 16, was discovered yesterday. She is believed to have hanged herself from a tree close to her home in Cefn Cribwr, a village five miles from Bridgend. Seventeen people under the age of 27 have now taken their own lives in the borough that includes Bridgend since January last year.

Jenna’s friends said that they had no idea why she should have killed herself but the teenager had been badly affected by the recent suicide of Zachary Barnes, 17, the cousin of her best friend. Lisa Jones, mother of Jenna’s friend Jessica, said: “The girls took Zachary’s death very hard. It is all very tragic and impossible to explain.”

Despite insisting that the deaths are not directly connected, authorities are no closer to explaining why so many young people have chosen to end their lives by hanging.

The strategy, announced yesterday by Edwina Hart, the Welsh Assembly’s Health Minister, is modelled on Scotland’s “Choose Life” campaign, which has succeeded in reducing suicide numbers significantly in the five years since its launch. Wales has now overtaken Scotland and has the highest rates in Britain.

Ruth Coombs, of Mind Cymru, said: “Wales is lagging behind when it comes to tackling the problem.”

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