A Conservative government will stop single mothers developing an independent lifestyle by refusing pregnant teenagers council flats and telling them to remain with their parents.

Shadow environment minister, Archie Norman, said: "Young parenthood is far more socially acceptable than in the past...it's that if you get pregnant there is the possibility of an independent existence supported by the state."

A Prince's Trust report out this week argues: "Some girls who moved into council homes after becoming mothers became icons to their peers who saw the freedom having a child had brought".