DRIVERS who get stressed out and exhausted by modern life are causing an alarming number of serious accidents across East Lancashire.

Police revealed that there have been 33 crashes caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel on the M65 in the last 11 months.

And they said the rapidly-rising figures were just the tip of the iceberg, with many sleep-related accidents on the motorway and the area's minor roads going unreported.

Today an East Lancashire business leader urged drivers to use modern technology rather than rush to make a meeting or hit a deadline and warned them: "You are not immortal."

Drivers "micronapping" for a few seconds at the wheel caused a quarter of all serious road crashes last year, killing 300 people.

Sergeant Bev Seycell, of Lancashire's motorway policing unit, urged motorists to appreciate the seriousness of driving when tired.

She said: "Proving that an accident was caused by someone falling asleep is notoriously difficult so we know that these figures are just the tip of the iceberg.

"The problem is getting much worse as people work longer hours and often find themselves driving to and from work in the dark - and the

number of accidents caused by tired motorists is rising in East Lancashire.

"This added fatigue, coupled with the stress of daily lives, means that people are getting into vehicles when they know they are really too tired to drive and are often rushing around from job to job without a break, when they know that they need one."

She said that at speeds of 70 or 80mph, the steering wheel only needed to shift a couple of degrees to vastly change the direction of the vehicle.

PC John Whitehead said: "Before motorists know it they have hit the vibra-strips on the edge of the motorway and that wakes them up, but to be honest that is the best case scenario.

"If the vehicle collides with another vehicle or with something stationary, such as a motorway bridge, the next place the driver could end up is hospital or the alternative is that they don't ever wake up."

Police claim there is a direct correlation between between the frequency of drivers falling asleep and stretches of unlit roads and motorways.

And they expect the figures for the M65, which has large unlit stretches, to rise as the clocks go back on Saturday.

PC Pat Pepper, said: "The roads are more stressful places than ever and people are more stressed than they have ever been.

"In France and Germany they have rest stops along the motorways where drivers can just pull in, have a walk around, get some fresh air and then drive on refreshed and able to concentrate."

Mike Damms, of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, added: "It is true that people live fuller lives, commuting longer distances and the pace of life has certainly increased.

"We all feel immortal when we are driving but if people are travelling longer distances they must take regular breaks. People don't realise what the potential risk is and should try to make use of modern technology such as mail or video conferencing and resist continuing a journey when they are tired just to make a meeting or hit a deadline."

A spokesman for the Highways Agency, said that he was unaware of any correlation between unlit motorway and drivers falling asleep at the wheel.