By Julie Armstrong

Last updated 11:40, Monday, 30 June 2008

A HARD-HITTING advert to be shown on Cumbria’s television screens this summer shows a pint of beer turning into a bag of blood.

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Warning: Kevin Tea

The advert, which pronounces “One Pint Can Lead to Another”, aims to hit home the message drink driving is deadly.

It will be shown on ITV Border for two months from this weekend, spearheading Safer Roads for Cumbria’s summer drink drive campaign.

The advertisement starts with drops of red liquid falling into a glass of beer, which then transforms into a surgical transfusion bag.

Similarly themed beer mats and posters will be distributed to pubs across the county, along with straws carrying the message “Drink Driving Sucks”.

Kevin Tea, communications manager for Safer Roads for Cumbria, said the campaign is timed because more people die when it is sunny than in bad weather conditions.

He said: “More people drink drive in the summer than at Christmas, when everyone knows the police are out in force. And people aren’t paying as much attention on a nice sunny afternoon, after a barbecue party, listening to music with the windows down – they don’t perceive the hazards.

“We need to highlight the simple message that drinking and driving are not compatible and that alcohol impairs driving skills with the potential result being, at best, a stay in hospital.”