THE mangled wreckage of a car is to be taken through towns and villages in Kent as part of this year's festive drink-drive crackdown.

Kent Police officers will be touring the county with the car and the message "don't get smashed this Christmas".

Although the car, a blue Ford Fiesta, was not involved in a fatal accident, the consequences of a couple of pints at lunchtime were bad enough.

The driver, in his 20s, suffered whiplash injuries, lost his licence and was fined more than £300, but worse still his girlfriend, with whom he had been out celebrating, sustained facial injuries and broken ribs after the car ploughed into a lamp-post.

The smashed Fiesta began its journey at the Bennett Memorial Diocesan CE School in Tunbridge Wells, where the message to avoid alcohol when driving was made clear to sixth formers.

They watched a play, Too Much Punch for Judy, written by Mark Wheeller and performed by the Ape Theatre Company from Essex, which gave an unnerving insight into the loss and heartache which drink-related accidents can so easily cause.

The euphoria of celebrating the festive season turned to a sick, enduring guilt and sadness as sudden death intervened, the clock never to be turned back.

The penalties of drink-driving - loss of a licence, impact on job prospects and insurance premiums, heavy fines and even time in prison - were also grimly underlined.

Graham Gibbens, chairman of KCC's Highways Advisory Board, was in Tunbridge Wells to launch the campaign. He said: "Although similar campaigns are mounted every year, the message that drinking and driving is wrong is still a vital one to try to get across.

"Even one drink can impair a person's ability to drive, and we hope that by targeting young people they will pass that message among their friends and families."

Meanwhile, in Whitehall, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said new efforts to deter drink-driving were among a raft of measures being published in the Government's Road Safety Bill.

While the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents last year had fallen to 37,215 - 22 per cent below the 1994-1998 average - too many were still falling victim.

2003 had seen 3,508 fatalities on Britain's roads, and the Government was determined to cut the number of casualties by 40 per cent by the year 2010.

Mr Darling said: "The new Road Safety Bill proposes giving police new powers to take drink-drive evidence at the roadside. It will close a loophole so that offenders at the highest risk of re-offending only drive again after medical inquiries.

"And it will give powers for mandatory re-testing of drivers disqualified for 24 months or more, so toughening up the penalties for the worst offending drink-drivers and other irresponsible drivers."

The authority's been displaying the salvaged from the a recent alcohol-related crash to highlight the often serious consequences.

The authority's road safety operations manager, Steve Horton, has been speaking to KM-fm about how the consequences which resulted from the alcohol-related crash involving the vehicle being used in the campaign...