Police are looking for possible links between the deaths of a number of young people around a small Welsh town, but said there was no evidence yet of a suicide pact.

At least seven young people have killed themselves in the Bridgend area in the past year, with several of the young victims reportedly hanging themselves after spending hours chatting with friends on the Internet.

"We'll be reviewing the circumstances surrounding a number of sudden deaths in the Bridgend area," South Wales police said in a statement late on Friday.

Police said they were not re-investigating the deaths but looking for possible links between them.

"We've no evidence to suggest there's any link between the deaths at this time," the statement said. "To date there's no evidence of a suicide pact."

The only death currently under active investigation was that of a 17-year-old girl who died in Blaengarw on January 17. A South Wales police spokesman on Saturday was unable to confirm that the review could involve up to 13 deaths.

Earlier this week the town's Labour MP Madeleine Moon said she was concerned about the effect on teenagers of spending too much time on the Internet and memorial Web sites, where people leave messages about dead friends.

"What we don't know is whether the Internet is playing a key factor in this," Moon told Reuters. "What's concerning is that you're getting Internet bereavement walls. That's not going to help anyone."

The Times newspaper reported on Saturday that the Ministry of Justice is examining new legal curbs to stop Internet sites providing information about ways to commit suicide. The ministry was unavailable for comment.