More drivers are using handheld mobile phones than before tougher penalties were brought in two years ago, a survey suggested today.

The study of thousands of drivers by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) found 2.8 per cent were using handheld phones – more than the 2.6 per cent measured in 2006 before £60 fines and licence penalty points were introduced.

Researchers monitored almost 12,000 cars and taxis and 2,500 vans in London this year, and said the results are likely to apply all over the country.

Since February 2007, drivers caught using their mobile phones have had to pay the £60 fixed penalty as well as having three points added to their licence. The previous penalty was a £30 fine.

TRL said mobile phone usage almost halved to 1.4 per cent the year after the new measures were brought in, rising to 2.8 per cent this year.

The research found that women aged 17 to 29 were most likely to use a handheld mobile while driving, while men aged 30 to 59 were the most common culprits.

It also showed that hands-free mobile use by car drivers had quadrupled over the past three years, from 1.2 per cent in 2006, to 4.8 per cent in 2009.

TRL spokesman Dr Nick Reed warned that the chances of crashing were much higher for drivers who used a mobile phone.

He said: “Your reaction time is likely to be slower, you’re more likely to drift across into the adjacent lanes, and you’re less aware of what’s going on around you.

“You’re less likely to check the mirrors and know there are vehicles there, so you’re at a much greater risk of having an accident,” Dr Reed added,

AA president Edmund King said today: “I am shocked by these figures.

“The concern is that, generally, the level of enforcement of the law is low,” he added.

Sarah Fatica, from the road safety charity Brake, said: “It is incredibly worrying that people still don’t take seriously the dangers that talking on your phone while driving pose.”