Suicide sites warning: Youngsters are only two clicks away as they surf the internet, say doctors

Websites promoting suicide are easier and quicker to access than those which aim to prevent it, according to research.

In the first study of its kind, a quick web search found half of "hits" brought up details on methods of committing suicide while one in five were for "dedicated suicide sites".

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There has been growing concern about the proliferation of suicide sites, with some claiming to have facilitated suicide pacts among strangers who met and planned their deaths on the internet.

Controversy followed a series of suicides by teenagers and young adults in Bridgend, South Wales, many of whom used networking sites, despite a lack of police evidence of internet involvement.

Suicide sites are not illegal in Britain, unlike Australia, although campaigners argue they have been a factor in at least 30 cases of young suicides in the UK in the past six years.

The latest study by five doctors and epidemiologists at universities in Bristol, Manchester and Oxford is published today in the British Medical Journal.

Professor David Gunnell, professor of epidemiology at Bristol University's department of social medicine, said the internet made it simple for youngsters seeking information about suicide.

He said: "We were surprised by the frequency with which the same pro-suicide sites came up across four search engines and the evaluation of methods provided.

"There was detailed information about speed, certainty and the likely amount of pain associated with a method.

"It would only take a couple of clicks to get to these sites once you've put simple words into the search."

The research team searched the internet last May for sites providing instructions and information on methods of suicide.

They used Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask15 to search the entire web, not just UK sites.

The researchers selected 12 terms that were entered into each search engine in turn.

The first ten hits retrieved by each search were then analysed, with a total of 240 sites identified and 480 hits reviewed.

The terms used were: suicide; suicide methods; suicide sure methods; most effective methods of suicide; methods of suicide; ways to commit suicide; how to commit suicide; how to kill yourself; easy suicide methods; best suicide methods; pain-free suicide and quick suicide.

Just under a fifth of hits, 90, were for dedicated suicide sites.

Half of these were judged to be encouraging, promoting, or facilitating suicide while 43 contained personal or other accounts of suicide methods, providing information and discussing pros and cons but without direct encouragement.

Two sites portrayed suicide or self harm in "fashionable" terms.

Sites focusing on preventing suicide or offering support accounted for 62 hits (13 per cent).

Sites forbidding or discouraging suicide accounted for 59 (12 per cent).

Chat rooms may exert "peer pressure to commit suicide, idolise those who have completed suicide, and facilitate suicide pacts", warned the study.

However, some sites enable searchers to share their distress and learn new coping strategies.

Suicide rates among the young have been declining since the 1990s - while internet use has expanded - but Professor Gunnell said there was a danger this might not continue.

He said the Government should look at whether suicide sites should be made illegal.

Another possible solution was to ensure that sites which support youngsters during a crisis came higher up the search ranking.