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

That's the message from a new kind of anti-drink drive campaign launched in the North-East today.

Instead of the government's traditional hard-hitting warnings that come with gruesome 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 a life.

A TV advert, 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 slam into 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, road safety representative from the Government Office for the North-East, explained that the advert targets the driver 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 to the individual.

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

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

Mr Johnson added: "But there are, potentially, even more serious consequences such as the loss of our 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 17-24-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 years' hard-hitting campaigns have been a success, helping to reduce annual drink-drive deaths in the region from 60 in the 1970s and 80s to 20 last year.