POLICE used an unopened bypass to demonstrate high-speed emergency breaking to raise awareness of faulty tyres.

To launch this year's North-East England Tyre Safety Campaign, the police and the Tyre Industry Council demonstrated the dangers of running a car on bald tyres on an unfinished stretch of the Chilton by-pass, in County Durham.

Officers drove two identical cars, one with new tyres and the other with tyres below the legal minimum tread depth of 1.6mm, to compare stopping distances.

Inspector Gavin Clark, of Darlington, said: "The best thing that can happen to you is that we pull you over and you are given a £60 fine and three penalty points for having a defective tyre.

"The worst case scenario is that you kill somebody because you have defective tyres and cannot stop.

"You would probably go to jail."

The two Mazda 6 vehicles reached speeds of 70mph before performing their emergency stops on the bypass.The ground was drenched with water by a council motorway cleaner to recreate the feel of wet conditions.

It took the car with faulty tyres an extra 15 metres to come to a stop compared to the car with new tyres.

Chief Inspector Paul Goundry, head of Road Police, said: "In the past five years one in ten people have been caught driving around with defective tyres. It is vital tyres are checked as regularly as oil and water."