HUNDREDS of motorists have been breathalysed during the police crackdown on drink driving, but officers are hoping fewer than ever were over the limit thanks to a hard-hitting campaign.

The official figures for Lancashire Constabulary are not being released until next week but officers in charge of road policing said many drink drivers had been stopped and charged.

But they were keeping their fingers crossed that the level was below the 135 motorists arrested last year.

Then officers praised the public for heeding their warnings after the figure dropped from 237 positive tests the previous year.

Officers said there semed to have been many fatal accidents this year, but that these could not yet be put down to drink driving.

The campaign against drink drivers began in early December when the government launched a one million pound advertising campaign with a series of hard-hitting television and radio adverts to save lives.

And Lancashire Constabulary again asked people to report suspected drink drivers through a confidential phone line.

Officers also set up roadside checkpoints across the county as well as a sending out a mobile unit where officers drove around to catch drink drivers.

Sergeant Eric Marshall, of the Pennine Division road policing unit, said:"We've been kept busy and we hope when the figures are released next week the level hasn't gone up as we've put a lot of time into reducing it."

"It's force policy that all drivers should be breathalysed after an accident and we have had a lot of fatal accidents this year. But that cannot be put down to drink driving.

"It's been busy over Christmas, but some days have been different to others. Certainly hundreds have been breathalysed ."

The annual campaign against drink drivers was launched in 1976 and is thought to have prevented more than 20,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries. In 1976 more than 1,600 people were killed in drink rel ated road accidents, this year the figure was 520.