IT wasn't one for the road for most motorists this Christmas in Blackpool as police recorded a dramatic down-turn in drink driving.

According to official figures, Lancashire had 135 testing positive out of 3,158 breath tests, or 4.27 per cent.

That's down almost two per cent from last year's figure of 6.1 per cent.

Plus the number of people involved in collisions in which alcohol was a contributing factor was down dramatically.

There were no deaths and only six serious injuries on Lancashire's roads in comparison to one fatality and 14 serious injuries over the same period last year.

We at The Citizen applaud all those who took heed of the police campaign which we backed fully with a front page article. Police chiefs think it may be to do with an overall change in attitude. "The message we got back is with the high profile campaign, a lot of people had made alternative arrangements," said road policing co-ordinator chief inspector Ian Bell.

"I think the stigma attached to drink driving is getting worse as our message hits home.

"It is a huge risk when you look at the personal penalties to you if you are caught.

"That's not including the penalties to the families of any victims you may kill or maim in an accident.

"In the main across the rest of the country there was quite an increase, so we are very pleased the public adhered to the publicity.

"Because of the rail problems we found the roads were actually busier. This shows even though there were more people on the road, most people had not even had one drink before setting off."