The Government is being urged to rethink its move to stop awareness courses for motorists using handheld mobile phones as it introduces tougher penalties for offenders.

An RAC Freedom of Information request shows awareness courses are most popular in North Yorkshire followed by Devon and Cornwall, Hampshire and Cumbria.

As announced last autumn, the Department for Transport is doubling the penalties for drivers caught using hand-held mobile phones and will stop offering educational courses to first-time offenders “in order to provide a strong deterrent and change behaviour”. This will take effect from 1 March.

Yet the RAC says education still has “a pivotal role to play in discouraging drivers from using a phone illegally in the first place”.

According to the organisation, of the 85,564 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) issued for the offence in 2015, 53,614 (63%) resulted in a motorist being sent on a course.

RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams said: “We support the much tougher penalties that will be introduced from March, and would like to see this backed by targeted enforcement by police forces across the country.

“But the fact that courses have been so popular indicates that informing motorists of the dangers of driving while distracted is still important if we are to eradicate this behaviour.

“Our #BePhoneSmart campaign acknowledges that no single action alone can bring an end to the handheld phone epidemic that has gripped the UK. What’s needed is concerted action by the Government, police forces, road safety groups and motoring organisations working together to tackle the problem.”