THE British Red Cross is calling on people in Warrington to spend just five minutes learning the basic but vital skills that could save a life.

As a part of a major national campaign called 'Cut Flowers', aimed at reducing deaths at road accidents, the charity is raising awareness of the crucial role first aid can play in the minutes immediately after a road accident.

Research has shown that in up to 85 per cent of cases where road accident victims could have survived, basic first aid administered at the scene could have made the difference between life and death.

Guardian Midweek readers are being urged to log on to www.redcross.org.uk/firstaid and take part in an interactive road safety challenge where people can learn how to save a life.

The user is presented with a road accident scenario where they have to make a series of decisions about the actions to take in order to save the casualty's life.

It gives people the opportunity to learn and test the skills they would need at the scene of a road accident.

The campaign uses images of cut flowers left at a roadside.

Geraldine Pearce, operations director in Cheshire for British Red Cross, said: "I am sure that we have all seen bunches of flowers left at roadsides.

"They can be an unsettling sight, reminding us that someone's life has been prematurely ended.

"Just by logging onto our website and learning some basic first aid we can all help reduce the number of people killed by accidents and cut the number of flowers we see at the roadside."