THOUSANDS of local drivers are still putting lives at risk by using mobile phones at the wheel. And Daily Echo readers are calling for offenders to lose their licence.

Campaigners say driving while using a mobile phone needs to be treated as seriously as drink-driving.

The Dorset-wide No Excuse road safety campaign has caught 6,100 people for a range of offences in its first four months.

Around a third were for just two basic offences - using a phone at the wheel or not wearing a seatbelt.

One man, stopped for using his mobile phone, wasn't wearing a seatbelt and admitted drinking from a can of extra strong lager just seconds earlier. Officers also discovered that he wasn't insured.

Almost 70 per cent of Echo readers taking part in an online poll wanted to see a driving ban for those who ignored the law.

One Poole reader said: "The deterrent isn't working. I think it should have the same punishment as drink driving.

"At least once a day I encounter someone on their phone driving. Lorry and van drivers are some of the worst, yet capable of doing some of the worst damage. I think a ban would be fair. After all, people make that choice to make or take that phonecall."

Dorset county councillor and road safety campaigner Alex Brenton (corr) said: "People are still driving and using their mobile phones; you see it every day.

"It's the delivery and lorry drivers, on their phones while responsible for a large piece of machinery, who worry me most.

"The No Excuse campaign is helping; the fear of being caught makes people think twice. I don't think higher penalties would work; more policing is the answer.

"We have to make driving while using a mobile phone uncool for youngsters, in the same way as drink-driving has become. It's a case of changing attitudes."

Annette Brooke, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, said she received a stream of calls from constituents frustrated about the issue.

"I think in the same way that over the years, drinking and driving has really become socially unacceptable, we've got to be working towards a similar response from the public," she said.

"I think it's a combination of penalties and campaigning."

Since February 27 2007, drivers caught in the act have faced a £60 fine and three penalty points with those choosing to go to court to argue their case receiving a maximum fine of £1,000. Van, lorry and bus drivers can be fined up to £2,500.

If driving is bad or there is a crash, offenders can be prosecuted for careless driving, dangerous driving or causing death by dangerous driving. Fines are greater with a risk of being locked up.

PANEL: THE No Excuse campaign is four months into a year-long crackdown on motoring madness.

In one of the worst cases, a young driver stopped on the Upton bypass claimed he was "only doing 70" when he had been clocked at 104 mph.

Another motorist performed an impressive wheel spin while overtaking a police patrol car. After being stopped he was arrested for refusing to take a breath test and found to be two and a half times over the legal drink-drive limit.

Almost 100 drivers were caught with no insurance, no licence or no MOT.

Ten motorists were nabbed for jumping red lights at roadworks and pedestrian crossings.

Chief Inspector Bob Nichols (corr) from Dorset Police specialist operations, said: "More than 5,000 offences detected in the first three months of the operation underlines the need to improve driver behaviour on Dorset's roads.

"Each of these offences has the potential to lead to a tragic or more serious outcome in the event of a collision. The accounts behind some of those offences illustrate just how inconsiderate and dangerous some drivers are and we will continue to seek to identify those individuals through overt and covert techniques to make Dorset's roads safer."

Dorset county council's road safety manager Robert Smith said: "We are still seeing a significant number of drivers putting their own lives and those of others at risk by some very selfish behaviour."

The No Excuses team is made up of Dorset police officers and Dorset Safety Camera Partnership operators.