A WOMAN who lost her legs at the age of nine and saw her two friends killed after they were hit by a drink-driver is the focus of a hard-hitting campaign to persuade young motorists to take more care on the roads.

Leigh-Anne Johns, from Redcar, east Cleveland, was crushed in the accident, which killed her friends, Rachel Reed, five, and her seven-year-old sister, Maria.

A Ford Escort XR3 mounted the pavement and crushed the three girls against the wall of their favourite sweet shop, in South Bank, near Middlesbrough.

Now, Miss Johns, 22, is retelling the horror of the injuries she suffered in 1993 as part of Cleveland Fire Brigade's Learn and Live campaign, which is targeting schools and colleges across the force area.

The graphic images of car crashes are intertwined with first-hand accounts of emergency workers who regularly attend road traffic accidents.

Miss Johns, who saw the 35-minute roadshow for the first time yesterday, hoped it would get a positive response.

She said: "I think it needs to be hard-hitting to get the message across and make people think about the consequences of dangerous driving.

"I'm glad to be able to use my experience to get people to think about the situation. It is just unfortunate something like this had to happen to me before something was done."

Since its launch, 6,000 pupils have watched the graphic footage.

The short films visibly shook the youngsters at Sacred Heart School, in Redcar, east Cleveland, when they saw the outcome of motoring accidents.

Jade Richardson, 15, said: "It definitely affected me, and when I am old enough to drive, I will make sure I remember these films. Some of the images were quite in-your-face."

Karl Slassor, 17, of Cleveland College of Art and Design, who passed his driving test two months ago, said he would alter his driving.

"It definitely made me think that just the smallest mistake can be fatal," he said. "I know I will change my driving habits after this experience."

Firefighter Jimmy Rose, based at Coulby Newham, in Middlesbrough, played a pivotal role in developing the initiative after spending years responding to car crashes.

He said: "We started the scheme a couple of years ago, and it has grown into a multi-agency project which draws on the experiences of the fire service, police and paramedics."