TOUGHER jail sentences for drivers who kill were last night welcomed by the North-East families of two women mown down by a drink-driver.

The Government announced yesterday that the maximum jail term for death by dangerous driving, including causing death by "joyriding", will be raised from ten to 14 years.

The news has been hailed as a step in the right direction from the families of two young women killed by a drink-driver when he careered onto a pavement.

Allan Jackson ploughed into the women while trying to evade police in Huddersfield in August 2000 after being caught kerb-crawling at the end of an all-day drinking session.

He killed Susan Briggs, 30, from Gilesgate Moor, Durham City, Angela Ovington, 28, a teacher originally from Birtley, near Gateshead, and 27-year-old Victoria Fisher from Rochdale.

A fourth friend, Louise Tinkler, 27, from Chester-le-Street, narrowly escaped with her life after leaping over a wall.

Jackson was jailed for eight years after admitting causing the deaths by dangerous driving.

When the family discovered this meant he would effectively serve only about four years, they launched a campaign calling for tougher sentences.

The father of Angela, Ray Ovington, said: "As far as the increased prison sentences are concerned, I'm all for anything like that. But it doesn't help us.

"We've still lost our daughters - three families have still be destroyed by one man's behaviour."

Susan's mother, Pauline Briggs, has been lobbying for a new charge of 'driver homicide.'

She said: "If someone has been drinking all day or taking drugs and gets into a car, then its manslaughter to me."

Yesterday's announcement also comes too late for the families of three Teesside girls.

Sisters Maria and Rachel Reed, aged six and eight, died when Robert Hoe's car crushed them against a wall in South Bank, Middlesbrough, in 1993. Their friend, Leigh-Ann Johns, then nine, had both legs amputated.

Hoe, who was twice over the drink-drive limit, was jailed for four years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

The families campaigned hard for years for tougher sentences for killer drivers, gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures for their cause.

Last night, Maria Cape, a North-East member of the Campaign Against Drink Driving, said: "The increase in sentences is good news, but it's like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. The drink-drive limit should be reduced."

The new proposals will also increase the penalties for drivers using mobile phones while on the move, although the Government has rejected calls to make it a specific offence.

For some motorists convicted of speeding, careless and uninsured driving, fines will be replaced by "tough, new, flexible community penalties."