"BELT up!" say Lancashire Police and Blackpool Borough Council in a bid to make drivers and passengers buckle down and wear seatbelts.

And police announce they will be cracking down on non-wearers across the Fylde this month.

It has been illegal not to wear a seatbelt in the front of vehicles since 1983. The law then extended to rear seat passengers in 1991.

Wearing a rear seatbelt saves 140 lives a year and it is estimated that a further 120 lives could be saved if ALL rear seat passengers wore their seatbelts.

A recent survey by the local police showed that 23 per cent of vehicle occupants were still not wearing their seatbelt.

It also revealed that among the offenders were the drivers of works vans, company vehicles and young children in the rear seats of cars.

Sgt Tim Parker from Western Division Road Policing Unit said: "The seatbelt legislation was introduced to save lives and reduce injury in the event of a collision and a 23 per cent non compliance rate is unacceptable.

"Under recent legislation drivers of all vehicles, including goods vehicles, must wear a seatbelt if one is fitted to their vehicle -- few exceptions apply. If in any doubt drivers should check the latest edition of the Highway Code."

Blackpool Borough Council highways chief Coun Fred Jackson said he could not stress strongly enough the value of seatbelts and yet many people were still putting themselves and others at risk by not wearing them.

He continued: "An alarming number of children are still not wearing seatbelts despite the fact that the driver is responsible for the safety of all occupants under the age of 14.

"Responsible parents should make sure that their children are safe and secure on every journey. Car travel could be made a great deal safer if people would just take a second to belt up before setting off.