That's how many drink-drivers were caught on Hampshire's roads during the festive period...

A DOZEN drink-drivers were caught on Hampshire's roads every single day over the Christmas period, figures revealed today.

Figures released by Hampshire police show that a total of 197 drivers were arrested for being over the legal alcohol limit during a two-week crackdown.

The total is higher than both last year's figure of 188 and the year before, when there were 160 arrests.

Police revealed the number of motorists who failed breath tests after being involved in collisions was also up, with 37 out of 474 found to be over the limit.

The figure rose from 4.85 per cent last year to 7.8 per cent this year.

Although still lower than the national average of 8.91 per cent, Hampshire police traffic chiefs today admitted the results were "disturbing".

Most worrying of all, nearly half of motorists caught drink-driving were found to be under the age of 30 - suggesting the anti-booze message is still falling on deaf ears.

Sgt Steve Wakeford, Hampshire police's casualty reduction manager, said: "I'm very disappointed by these figures.

"Despite our high-profile campaign, people have still chosen to ignore our warnings. What's worrying now is that it appears drink-driving is an increasing trend.

"Similarly, what is just as worrying is that the highest percentage of people arrested were in the 16-to-24 age bracket and overall 46 per cent of offenders were under 30 years old."

Sgt Wakeford, based in the force's road policing unit, added: "What will it take to get these people to understand the dangers they present?

"We don't want any more lives lost as a result of this irresponsible act. There is no excuse for this anti-social practice."

The areas with the worst drink-drive record over Christmas were Southampton and Bitterne, where a total of 36 motorists were found to be over the drink-drive alcohol limit.

Arrests in other areas between December 18 and January 2 were: Portsmouth (26); North East Hampshire (22); New Forest (19); Basingstoke (15); Gosport (14); Fareham (14); Waterlooville (13); Winchester (10); Alton (10); Eastleigh (7); the Isle of Wight (6) and Andover (5).