Skipton'S emergency services were out in force on Saturday - in a bid to make Craven's roads safer.

Police, fire and ambulance officers were in Skipton's town hall car park, giving advice to motorists.

They also gave demonstrations showing the potentially disastrous consequences of offences such as speeding and drink-driving.

Craven has some of the worst accident figures in North Yorkshire.

Since April, there have been 60 fatal or serious crashes on the district's roads - a massive 58 per cent increase on the previous year.

Representatives from the three emergency services, highways officials and county councillors have formed a group to look at ways of reducing the accident toll.

They will be drawing up an action plan in the near future.

Tad Nowakowski, acting district commander for North Yorkshire Police, said that considering the appalling weather, the safety event had been hailed a success.

"We are hoping to repeat the exercise in other parts of Craven," he added.

And he revealed the emergency services were hoping to hold an event on Skipton High Street to re-emphasise the road safety message.