A coroner is to investigate links between social networking Web sites and a suicide craze sweeping through a small town.

The craze, apparently fueled by discussions on sites such as Bebo and a desire for prestige among peers, has led to seven deaths and a spate of attempted suicides in and around Bridgend, South Wales.

Phillip Walters, the local coroner, said yesterday that he was “desperately concerned” and urged parents to be alert.

A friend of the victims, Anne-Marie Eagle, 17, said suicide had become such a fixation for local youngsters that she had considered it herself.

She added: “It has become a trend, it has become a cool thing to do in our area — I have thought about doing it myself. With all the deaths I have got very upset and depressed, but I could never be that selfish.”

Miss Eagle is a cousin of Liam Clarke, 20, who killed himself a month ago, and a close friend of the latest victim, Natasha Randall, 17.

She said: “When she heard about the other lads, Tasha would talk about hanging a lot. She was fascinated by it. She thought it would be easy to do. Everyone around here is doing it, it’s absolutely doing my head in. Two more friends of mine tried to commit suicide over the weekend as well. They did it because of Tasha, I know they did.”

One of them, Leah Phillips, 15, was found just in time by her stepfather, David, 50, after trying to hang herself at home. She spent three days in intensive care.

Her mother, Tina, 41, said: “We don’t know how long she had been there. My husband lifted her up and then our neighbor ran in and cut her down.

“Leah says she doesn’t know why she did it. She honestly can’t remember much about it.”

A recent study by Papyrus, a charity dedicated to preventing young suicides, found that more and more young people were committing suicide after reading about it on the Internet or using special chat rooms.

It said there had been at least 27 Internet-related suicides by young people in the past six years, the youngest of whom was 13.

Mr. Walters, the Bridgend and Glamorgan Valleys coroner, said he would be looking at the sites for any clues as to how they might have encouraged people to take their own lives.

“In the meantime, I want to warn youngsters about the possible dangers these Web sites can pose.

“I would also like to warn parents to be actively on the alert for signs of their children being influenced by others on these sites.”