IT COULD be a costly Christmas if you drink and drive.

That is the message from a new kind of anti-drink-drive campaign launched in the North-East yesterday.

Instead of the Government's traditional hard-hitting warnings that come with graphic images of death and carnage, this year's Christmas message is designed to drive home a subtler point - the effect on the driver.

A driver found over the legal limit could face a fine, a ban, imprisonment or the guilt of taking someone's life.

A TV advertisement, already being broadcast, depicts an over-the-limit male driver travelling down a typical urban street, weighing up the situation as he approaches a young girl on a bicycle.

As he overtakes her, he appears to hit a car coming the other way and the viewer is left to ponder the consequences.

During the launch at Stockton's Preston Park Museum, Andrew Johnson, a road safety representative from the Government Office for the North-East, explained that the advertisement targets drivers directly.

He said: "Previous campaigns have been quite gruesome, showing the immediate after-effects of a crash, but this time we wanted to highlight the effect on the individual.

"Drink-driving is a very selfish act and we wanted to reflect that. Therefore, in this advert, we do not show the direct consequences of the accident because, like the very nature of drink-driving, you cannot predict what will happen."

Posters accompanying the TV and radio advertisements also point out that offenders could face a £5,000 fine, a 12-month ban or six months in prison.

Mr Johnson said: "But there are, potentially, even more serious consequences, such as the loss of your job and having to live with the death or serious injury of someone for the rest of your life.

"Christmas is a time when a lot of people, particularly 17 to 24-year-old males, let their guard down. Excuses such as being invited to last minute parties or only nipping out for one are not good enough."

Previous hard-hitting campaigns have been a success, helping to reduce annual drink-drive deaths in the region from 60 in the 1970s and 1980s to 20 last year.

* Last year, more than 500 drivers paid the penalty for drink-driving over the festive period.

Between November 28, 2001, and January 2, 506 motorists in Cleveland, County Durham and Northumberland were found to be over the limit.

Of these, 35 were caught in the two weeks after December 18. In North Yorkshire, 11 drivers were caught during the same period.