THE lives of 34 families have been ripped apart by the devastating news a loved one has been killed in a car crash in Cheshire so far this year.

Between the January 1 and November 7, Cheshire Police have recorded more than 30 fatal incidents on the roads.

While officers have confirmed that these deaths have been caused by a number of different factors, national estimates suggest that handheld mobile phones are a contributory factor in at least one in four collisions.

In a bid to crackdown on those who use their phones while behind the wheel of a car, Cheshire Police is launching a week-long operation on Monday.

Inspector Steve Griffiths, from the Cheshire Roads Policing Team, said: “As a senior investigator I’ve dealt with many serious and fatal collisions, and in recent years I’ve found that increasingly more of these incidents have involved mobile phones.

“Dealing with such cases is heart wrenching, and the hardest part is explaining to someone that a loved one has died because someone felt a phone call or text message was more important than a life.”

So far in 2016, Cheshire police officers have issued more than 2,100 tickets to motorists who have been stopped for driving while using a mobile.

Anyone who is caught driving while using a mobile phone faces the prospect of a £100 fine and three penalty points on their licence.

Police and crime commissioner for Cheshire David Keane said: “I have great admiration for the work undertaken by our family liaison officers, who have the heartbreaking role of informing families that their loved ones have died.

“However, much of their work could be entirely avoidable if motorists paid more attention to the road, rather than their mobile phones.”