NEW drivers are being warned to take extra care on East Lancashire's roads after shocking new statistics on accidents and disqualifications.

The message is being put across by the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety after figures showed one-fifth of all new drivers in the county are involved in an accident within a year of passing their test.

They are also reminding new drivers that for the first two years they have a probationary period, which means they will be banned if they accrue six, or more, penalty points rather than the normal 12. The warning comes as 100 new speed cameras go online, taking the number across the county to 230, and increasing the chances of motorists getting fines and penalty points.

That total will rise to about 500 by the end of 2004, when the three-year road safety project -- which involves all fines money being pumped back into more cameras -- comes to an end.

At present, around 9,000 people are killed, or injured, on Lancashire roads every year.

The Partnership has highlighted the Coronation Street storyline involving Sarah-Louise Platt as an example of what can happen when inexperienced drivers get behind the wheel.

The soap teenager is fighting for her life after a crash involving her boyfriend Aidan.

Linda Sanderson, communications manager at the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety, said: "One in five new drivers has an accident within the first 12 months of passing their test.

"We want to remind new drivers they will go back to square one if they clock up six points in the first two years. We shall be targeting all approved driving instructors, educational establishments and businesses requesting they promote this message."

In the UK, 1,000 new drivers a month have been banned since the introduction of the 1997 Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act.

To get their licences back, they have to reapply for a provisional licence and drive as a learner again, taking their practical and theory tests.

From November, a new video simulation test is being added to the theory test which will be taken at centres in Preston and Blackpool.