LONDON - British drivers are increasingly using micro-blogging site Twitter while they are behind the wheels, and are thus putting themselves and other in danger, says a new survey.

The survey for online insurer, esure, found that almost one in 10 drivers were found to use mobile Internet services and social networks whilst driving, despite knowing that they were breaking the law.

Around fifty percent of drivers found alerts from mobiles or BlackBerrys "very distracting".

The survey of 1000 people found that the growing numbers of "tweets", texting and updating Facebook profiles while driving was a "cause for concern".

It was also found that nearly half of drivers "openly admit" to breaking the law by texting and making calls while driving.

Analysis of UK 'tweets' from Twitter over the period of just one week showed the extent that people were breaking the law.

American research found that drivers were 23 times more likely to have an accident while texting or reading emails while driving.

Mike Pickard, head of risk and underwriting at esure, said messages being posted on Twitter "from behind the wheel are a real cause for concern for the safety of other motorists and pedestrians".

"With advances in technology and the rise in mobile phone applications available, motorists are being increasingly distracted whilst behind the wheel - especially as constantly updating friends and family on what we're doing is now becoming the norm," the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

He added: "Our advice to motorists is to remove this temptation altogether by switching off all mobile technology before driving to ensure focus solely remains on the road ahead." (ANI)