EVERYONE understands the motives for the traditional police drives against drink-driving over the Christmas party season, but a disclosure today shows there is all the more reason for crackdowns against summertime drinkers who get behind the wheel.

For as Lancashire Constabulary joined in a national campaign launched today, the need for an equally high-profile, attention-grabbing blitz against summer drink-driving was revealed by the crime figures.

They show that while nearly 2,300 people were charged with drink-driving offences across Lancashire last year, the majority of them occurred during the summer.

And if this points to the need for no relaxation of police efforts during the summer months, the fact that more drink-drive offences are taking place during the period also suggests that too many drivers are still adopting a dangerously different attitude at this time of year.

Indeed, announcing the start of the campaign in Lancashire, Inspector Chris Gradwell, suggested that many motorists risk dropping their guard during the summer months when good weather can increase the temptation to drink and drive. "A drive to a country pub, beer garden or barbecue seems a good idea until you lose track of just how often your glass has been filled," he said.

But there is no excuse for losing track or having 'just one more.' For behind the bald statistics of thousands of motorists being caught lie equal amounts of anguish -- of people losing their livelihoods and, far worse, people being maimed and killed.

Every week nine people are dying on British roads because of drink-driving. Two years ago, Home Office figures revealed that positive breath tests in December are half those in the rest of the year. This shows that motorists are getting the message over Christmas drink-driving, but the police must ensure that they do at other times.

Above all in summer when the temptations to have 'just one more' are strong and the consequences can be no less tragic.