THIS picture shows the consequences of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

Firefighters had to use cutting equipment to free Mark Robertson from the wreckage and a back board to carry him out.

Luckily Mark was not actually injured, but had volunteered to take part in a demonstration at Bury Fire Station to show what can happen if motorists are distracted by mobile phones.

He was helping to launch a new hard-hitting campaign to remind people that it is illegal to use hand-held mobile phones when driving.

The regional campaign is led by the Neighbourhood Road Safety Initiative (NRSI), with the support of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Lancashire Constabulary.

Billboards and buses are already carrying shocking and vivid images of blood-spattered mobile phones along with messages such as Careless talk costs lives' and Some things are better left unsaid'.

Andrew Wake, NRSI spokesperson, said: "Everyday we still see countless drivers engrossed in conversations on their mobile phones, despite the fact it's illegal.

"Making or taking calls and sending or reading texts is a serious distraction and clearly these people have little regard for their own lives and the safety of pedestrians and other drivers.

"No phone call can be so important that you'd risk endangering yourself and others and we've got to do something to make this offence socially unacceptable. The simple message of this campaign is do the right thing, switch it off'."

Driving while using a hand-held mobile phone has been a criminal offence since December 2003 and anyone caught can be fined £30.

This figure can rise up to £1,000 if the matter is taken to court, or £2,500 for people driving vans, lorries, buses and coaches.

Thousands of motorists across the country are fined for using their phones, and GMP issue around 800 of those each month.

Chief Inspector Hadyn Roberts, of GMP's road policing unit, said: "Using a hand-held mobile phone makes drivers four times more likely to be in a collision and their reactions are slowed by 50 per cent.

As a society, we fell in love with our mobile phones but we do not separate our love affair with them when we're driving.

"Our officers are supporting this campaign with enforcement and we'll be taking a zero tolerance approach to the offence throughout the county."