Drivers whom caught using their mobile phones while driving will automatically receive six points on their licence instead of the current three and on-the-spot fines will be doubled from £100 to £200, the government has announced.
Newly qualified drivers, who have a ceiling of six points for their first two years on the road, could immediately lose their licence if they are caught.
The tougher sanctions are being brought in amid mounting concern about a lack of prosecutions and convictions and a failure of the public to take the offence of using a mobile phone while driving seriously.
The minister for transport, Chris Grayling, said use of mobiles at the wheel was as socially unacceptable as drink or drug-driving.
"We all have a part to play in ensuring our family and friends do not use their phones while driving," said Grayling, promising to announce "a tougher new penalty regime shortly".
Department for Transport (DfT) sources pointed out that a disproportionate number of those caught using their phones behind the wheel were young, or new drivers, or both.
David Cameron's cabinet was poised to announce a more modest increase in penalties after a public consultation on the issue, but Grayling decided a tougher crackdown was appropriate, after a number of high-profile cases including the death of cyclist, Lee Martin, 48, in 2015, who was killed by a driver who had eight previous convictions for using his phone at the wheel.
The increase in sanctions comes as Ministry of Justice data for the past 10 years show the number of prosecutions have halved since 2010, with 17,586 motorists charged in 2015 compared with 35,255 in 2010. The number of convictions has also halved as have fines imposed by the courts.
National Police Chiefs' Council lead for roads policing chief constable Suzette Davenport said the police were concerned by the level of use, with one in three drivers willing to make calls.
This "indicates a deeper attitudinal problem that's got to be addressed by more than just police action", she said.
Metropolitan police data shows that almost 20,000 notices involving potential fines and penalty points, retraining courses have been issued so far this year in the capital.
Superintendent Andrew Johnstone said the public need to be mindful that using a phone while driving can have fatal consequences. "You are more likely to experience a crash if you do so," he said.
The president of the Automobile Association, Edmund King, called for a national advertising campaign akin to those in the 1980s on drink-driving.
"It is similar to habits lost in the 70s and 80s with drink-driving and seatbelts. Only a shift in attitude, harsher penalties and better enforcement will improve matters," he said.
The AA believes part of the problem is generational, with younger drivers not knowing a life without mobiles. But older users are equally addicted to phones. A survey earlier this year showed that the average person swipes, taps and pinches their display about 2,617 times a day.
The DfT is working on a "hard-hitting Think! campaign" with new sanctions expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
It acted after road safety groups called for tougher sanctions and judges to use their powers to jail.
The DfT said that of 88 deaths caused by distractions in 2012, 17 were because of mobile use – a higher death rate than other in-car causes. In 2014 this had risen to 21 fatal accidents and 22 in 2015.
Nobody was jailed as a result of any of those accidents, with records showing one suspended sentence in 2015.
This year it appears judges are cracking down. Last week a lorry driver who killed an off-duty police officer by crashing into oncoming traffic moments after opening a text message on his phone was jailed for six years.
In another case, a driver who was talking on her phone hands-free was spared jail after she killed a two year old. She was looking for a parking space while talking and thought she hit a trolley, Harrow crown court was told.
And a driver who earlier this year caused a fatal pile-up on the M1 while distracted by her phone has been jailed for five years.
The DfT is hoping that the new sanctions will act as a strong deterrent to drivers.
Not only will those caught get a £200 on-the-spot fine, but if they are caught twice and accrue 12 points they will automatically appear in court and face a fine of £1,000 and a driving ban of at least six months.
New drivers face having their licences revoked after the first offence, and to regain their licence must reapply for a provisional licence and may only drive as a learner until they pass further theory and practical tests.
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