SHOCKING figures have revealed that children as young as 15 have been caught driving on East Lancashire’s roads while over the alcohol limit.

Four 15-year-olds are among 1,634 drivers who failed roadside tests for drink-driving in East Lancashire since the start of 2009.

The oldest was an 87-year-old in Read in May 2009.

Dozens of those who failed tests were at least three times over the limit, which is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Road safety charities have called for the legal drink-drive limit to be reduced while police say they are continuing to plough resources into tackling the problem.

Chief Insp Debbie Howard, who heads up the road policing team across the county, said: “We look at many areas for reducing road casualties and when we look at the causes drink-driving is always well up there.

“We run special campaigns to target drink-driving in June and December but just because we do that doesn’t mean are not focusing on it for the rest of the year.

"Those months are tareted because of Christmas and because June is the start of the summer months.

“We are still seeing people who have high levels that suffer severe injuries or fatalities.

“A lot of it is about education. We want to stop people from drinking and driving in the first place.

"If we are catching them then that is good but we want to get to a sit-uation where people don’t drink-drive at all.”

In February this year a 15-year-old was arrested in Lightbrown Street, Darwen, for the offence.

Over the past two years, 15-year-olds have also been arrested in Devonshire Drive, Accrington; Morse Street, Burnley and Underlay Street, Burnley.

Ellen Booth, senior campaigns officer at road safety charity Brake, said: “Drink-driving is a serious crime that kills and seriously injures people every day.

“While drinking a large amount before getting behind the wheel is clear-ly abhorrent, research shows that even small amounts of alcohol impair safe driving.

"That’s why Brake is calling on all drivers not to touch even a drop of alcohol before driving.

"The UK shares the highest drink-drive limit in Europe.

"It is at a level at which driving is significantly impaired.

“Brake is calling on the Government to lower the limit and to introduce random breath testing, in order to stop the needless carnage on our roads.”