SALES of hands-free mobile phone driving kits have rocketed since the new ban on driving while talking on the phone.

Shops have reported a run on the kits, which are still legal and allow drivers to talk while travelling.

Among them is T-Mobile in The Parade, Swindon, where consultant Emma Peach said: "We have certainly experienced an upsurge.

"Before the law came in, we would probably sell about four hands-free kits per week, but we sold seven on the first day of the new law."

But even these cannot save drivers from trouble if an officer judges them to be distracted by their conversation.

As of midnight on Sunday, it has been illegal for drivers to use a hand-held mobile telephone unless they are parked in a safe place with the engine off or making a 999 call and no safe stopping place can be found.

Swindon police have agreed to concentrate on warning transgressors for the first eight weeks under the new law rather than issuing a £30 on-the-spot penalty.

Sgt Dave Melvin, Wiltshire Constabulary's road safety officer, said: "This approach will not prevent officers from using their discretion to take formal enforcement action in individual cases.

"This would be if they considered the potential danger caused was serious, or if it was felt the use of a mobile telephone had contributed to a collision or if other offences were being committed.

"There is not a police force in the UK that has not experienced a road accident causing death or serious injury in which the use of a mobile telephone was a factor."