AN MP today defended scientists who caused controversy with a study into the use of mobile phones while driving and said they had done everyone a "public service".

Research found that talking on a mobile phone, whether hands free or not, was more dangerous than being over the alcohol limit behind the wheel.

Government transport ministers and road safety groups said this conclusion was incorrect and that it had undermined the drink-drive message.

But Darwen and Rossendale MP Janet Anderson, who is campaigning against the use of mobile phones while driving, said the research was helpful as it had highlighted the dangers.

The Transport Research Laboratory tested 20 experienced drivers, a mixture of men and women aged 21 to 45, who each took turns on a driving simulator. The drivers were tested with just enough alcohol to put them over the limit, with a hands-free mobile, a hand-held mobile and then free of any distractions.

Reactions of those with a phone to their ear were 30 per cent slower than when they were tested over the limit, and 50 per cent slower than without any distractions.

The stopping distance for drivers with hands-free and hand-held mobiles was also much greater than while drink-driving.

At the moment there is no specific offence for using a hand-held mobile at the wheel. Police can issue a charge of driving without due care and attention, although this can be difficult to prove.

Janet Anderson is currently trying to get a bill through Parliament to make it an offence. It should be given a second reading in the House of Commons on April 12.

She said today: "In 356 other countries around the world, including Ireland, it's a specific offence.

"I have spoken to Chief Superintendent John Thompson at Blackburn and Inspector Graham Ashcroft at Darwen, and they said it could become a fixed penalty offence.

"I am trying to build up the campaign and this research was helpful. I don't think it was contentious.

"I think they have done us a public service because they have shown just how dangerous it is."

Edmond King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said: "So-called safety groups are undermining the drink-drive message.

"Distraction while using a hands-free mobile phone is dependent on the length and the emotive of cognitive levels of the conversation.

"Drivers face hundreds of distractions while driving including passengers, pedestrians, posters, cones, congestion and cyclists. Drivers who get behind the wheel after drinking are more likely to take risks. They have no perception of the risks involved as alcohol impairs judgment."