Police in Warwickshire arrested dozens of people for drink and drug driving last month.

As part of its anti drink and drug driving Christmas campaign, Warwickshire Police made 78 arrests throughout December.

One such person was a 31-year-old woman from Evesham, who was arrested at 1:40am on Sunday December 12 in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Rural Crime Team advised the woman not to drive however despite this, police soon ended up stopping her in her car before arresting her on suspicion of drink driving.

Sergeant Sean Bridle said: “Arresting and charging drink and drug drivers in Warwickshire will always be a priority for officers whatever the time of year because if you drive at twice the legal alcohol limit you are at least 30 times more likely to cause a road collision than a driver who hasn’t been drinking.”

In 2020, three fatalities were recorded in the county as a result of collisions where drink or drugs were a factor.

A further 24 people suffered serious, and often life-changing, injuries.

Last month’s campaign encouraged members of the public to report the details of anyone suspected of driving under the influence.

Philip Seccombe, Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire and chair of the county’s Road Safety Partnership said “Road Safety is a shared responsibility and I’m delighted to see the public and partners all coming together to play their part in making Warwickshire’s roads safer for everyone.

“Any amount of alcohol affects your ability to drive and we also need drivers to take full responsibility for their actions and not to drive under the influence of drink or drugs.”

Of the 78 arrests made, 15 were arrested for driving, or being in charge of a vehicle, when under the influence of drink or drugs, 42 for driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit, 17 for driving or being in charge of a motor vehicle with concentration of specified controlled drug above specified limit and four for failing to provide a specimen for analysis.