THE number of people injured in drink related road accidents in Lancashire over the Christmas period fell by more than half.

Lancashire police ran high profile campaign aimed at clamping down on drink driving for four weeks over the festive season.

Random roadside checkpoints were set up and motorists involved in all accidents were breath tested.

And for the first time people were encouraged to phone the police with anonymous information about motorists they suspected of drinking and driving.

According to the latest statistics 409 people involved in accidents were breath tested compared to 960 the previous year. Of those tested 23 were positive compared to 31 in the year ending 1998.

The total number of accidents on Lancashire's roads which ended in injuries fell from 252 to 102, a drop of 60 per cent.

The full figures for every police division in Lancashire are due to be published next week.

Acting Inspector Bev Saycell from Lancashire road policing unit said: "Our latest campaign has been a great success, although there was still a hard-core of people who persisted in drinking and driving.

"The figures were for the annual campaign period while the figures for Lancashire's six police divisions are still being collated. "Although the number of drink drivers involved in accidents has increased from 3.2 per cent to 5.6 per cent the number of injury accidents has fallen dramatically.

"The final results of the month-long, county-wide campaign will be released once all the figures have been collated."

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