Gloucestershire Constabulary is warning motorists not to rely on any legal loopholes if they use a mobile phone while driving, as a new road safety awareness campaign get underway this week.

It comes as the Government plans to close a legal loophole that can allow some people to argue in court that they weren't using their phone to communicate.

A Gloucestershire police spokesman said: "In the past year the Force has prosecuted a total of 459 people for using a mobile device while driving or the wider offence of driving without due care and attention, up from a total of 314 in the previous twelve months.

Officers have been briefed on using both offences to investigate cases where mobile phones have distracted a driver and over the next twelve days patrols across Gloucestershire will be focussing on the issue, which is one of the 'fatal four' most common causes of road deaths in the country."

The No Mobile at the Wheel police crackdown runs until November 30