COUPLES trying to start a family have been urged to change their unhealthy lifestyles after infertility rates rose across Cheshire and Merseyside, writes Nick Lakeman.

An investigation into the 'postcode lottery' of getting fertility treatment revealed alarming levels in infertility, which experts are linking to obesity, smoking and excessive drinking.

"There is an immediate need to make would-be parents aware of the dire effects the wrong sort of lifestyle can have on their chances of having a family," said Cllr Sue Proctor of Cheshire county council.

The findings were revealed when a statutory joint scrutiny committee met to consider proposals to improve fertility services like IVF. Health professionals told members that 70 per cent of fertility problems were now linked to men - a direct reversal of 20 years ago - and that over 2.5m could be suffering from the problem.

Other factors preventing couples from having children were obesity in women and the rise of sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia in both sexes.

A report by the Terrence Higgins Trust says that longer waiting times at genito-urinary clinics (GUM) are pushing up infection rates. Two in ten patients had to wait more than two weeks to be seen and only 30 per cent within the 48 hour target.

"It's no wonder STI rates keep rising," said Trust chief executive Nick Patridge. "It's simply not good enough."

The county council's statutory committee will now put its ideas, including better lifestyle advice to couples starting families, primary care trusts across the region, before new policies to combat infertility are adopted.