A BIKER paralysed in a crash eight years ago appealed yesterday for motorists to take more care on the roads.

Paul Carr, 39, was speaking at the launch of the latest safety campaign at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

Mr Carr, who lives near York, was riding a sports bike near Sherburn-in-Elmet in 1998, when he was involved in an accident with a car.

He was thrown from the bike, breaking his leg and back. He spent four months in hospital and remains in a wheelchair.

He said: "The message is just take care and look out for each other.

"If you do not, the consequences on you and your family can be shattering."

Mr Carr worked as a builder in the family business before the accident. He now works in the company office.

He said: "My life has been so frustrating since my accident, because losing my mobility forced me to give up my job and it prevented me from doing what I loved - riding my bike."

The number of bikers killed on the county's roads has fallen since 2003, when 28 riders and pillion passengers died.

The campaign launched yesterday is a partnership between the police and the county council.

Officers will carry out extra patrols on routes popular with motorcyclists. Speeders and unsafe drivers and riders will be fast-tracked through the courts.

The successful Bike Safe campaign is also being relaunched. It was started by North Yorkshire Police in 1997 and has since been adopted by 36 forces.

The campaign offers formal training to motorcyclists to help them improve their skills.

All riders stopped by police will now be offered a place on a £50 course.

David Collins, the Assistant Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, said: "The police get accused of demonising motorcyclists, but people in North Yorkshire expect the police to have a primary role of enforcing the law.

"We have in place the resources and system for catching the idiot minority - the extreme speeders, the wheelie show-offs, the selfish boy-racers with race exhausts which wreck the peace."

The force has been given a 1,000cc Honda SP2 bike as part of a sponsorship with a dealer in Castleford, West Yorkshire.

Sergeant Pete Mason, who is heading the Bike Safe campaign, said: "Wherever we park it, motorcyclists will come for a closer look. That is when we turn the subject round to improving riding skills.