The blood might have been fake but the dangers were all too real for pupils from Peterborough Regional College, as a crash reconstruction launched the For My Girlfriend road safety campaign.

Fire fighters and paramedics teamed up with road safety officers to make the scene as close to a real road accident as possible.

The reconstruction portrayed a male driver being seriously injured and his female passenger killed, in the graphically realistic reminder of the dangers faced on the roads.

With a high number of fatalities on the city's roads already this year, the campaign is aiming to reduce casualties and encourage young people to take care when they get behind the wheel.

The initiative will peak in the run up to February 14, with posters be put up and mock Valentine's Day cards being distributed in places of education, pubs and clubs to get the serious message across.

Road Safety Officer Clair George said: "We work in partnership with the Cambridgeshire Fire Service and paramedics to make the scene as realistic as possible.

"The whole aim of the campaign is to reduce casualties among 17 to 25 year-old drivers.

"What a lot of people don't realise is that young females aged 17 to 21 are more likely to die as a passenger in a vehicle than as a driver.

"Through this campaign we are reminding young people of the terrible dangers and consequences when things go wrong on the road.

"At this romantic time of year we are taking the opportunity to ask young male drivers to take special care of their female passengers and to point out the particular dangers that young females face."

Chief fire officer Graham Stagg said: "Last year, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service rescued 292 people who had become trapped in their vehicles following a road traffic collision.

"To be trapped in the wreckage of a car waiting for the emergency services to arrive can be terrifying, and too often there are those that don't make it.

"By participating in this crash reconstruction we are showing young people the consequences of driving carelessly.

"We hope the hard-hitting messages will make young drivers think when getting behind the wheel of a car."

Pupils at Wisbech Grammar School also witnessed a similar reconstruction, as the campaign aims to impact young people from across the area.

For more information about the campaign, visit www.fmg.org.uk