£1m a month from motorists fined for using their mobiles

Figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday show the number caught rose by almost 40 per cent last year to nearly 200,000.

Errant drivers paid more than £5.7million in fines for the offence in 2006 but, with the minimum penalty having doubled to £60 in February, this could soar to more than £11million per year – even if the number of offenders remains the same.

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By comparison, fines imposed on drivers caught by speed cameras nets more than £120million annually.

The statistics, gleaned from 48 of the 51 police forces in England, Wales and Scotland, show that in 2006 the greatest clampdown on drivers using their mobiles was in London, where 22,646 were caught.

Next in the league table was Greater Manchester police, which collared 16,702 motorists, followed by Strathclyde (9,592) and Thames Valley (9,349). At the other end of the scale 111 motorists were caught in Wiltshire in 2006 and in Dyfed, Wales, the figure was 950.

High-profile drivers who have fallen foul of the law include Home Office Minister Liam Byrne, who was fined £100 last week for talking on his phone while driving near his Hodge Hill constituency in Birmingham and Lib Dem leadership hopeful and Environment spokesman Chris Huhne, who was banned from driving for three months under the totting-up procedure after being caught out as he drove along the Old Kent Road in London in 2003.

Tory MP and London Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson has been photographed twice in recent months chatting on his mobile while driving. Motoring groups are split over the statistics. The Association of British Drivers claimed last night that thousands of otherwise safe drivers were being prosecuted on little more than a technicality.

A spokesman explained: 'You can be in a traffic jam on your mobile and be in control of your car and yet be guilty of this offence. On the other hand, you can drive badly but not have a mobile phone in your hand and get away with it. It is senseless. 'They are fining people over a technicality. We would call for a commonsense approach. If someone is parked up at the side of the road with the engine running, talking on their mobile, do they really deserve a fine?'

But the road-safety charity Brake described the figures as alarming and said the offence – introduced in 2003 and which carries a three-point penalty on a driver's licence – was as bad as drink-driving.

A spokeswoman said: 'It's extremely concerning that so many drivers are willing to risk their lives and put other people in danger for the sake of a phone call.' A Department for Transport spokesman denied the law was being used simply to generate money.

He said: 'This is a road-safety issue – we do not want to take people's money. We would much rather they put their mobiles away and kept their money.'