ONE of the top traffic policemen has said he is disappointed by the number of drink drive motorists caught over the festive period.

Inspector Tom Graham said 26 drivers had been arrested in the Wigan and Leigh areas between December 18 and January 2 -- solely from breathalysing those involved in accidents. And traffic police have arrested even more motorists for failing breath tests in spot checks across the borough during the annual Christmas and New Year crack down. Insp Graham said those figures were not available but were also high. He said: "Clearly they are not getting the message. The drivers of all vehicles in accidents are breath-tested and 26 of those were positive, refused to have a breath test or failed to provide a specimen which is quite a lot. It's disappointing."

Those arrested face an immediate driving ban when their case goes before the courts, even if it is their first offence.

The surge in drink-drivers charged this Christmas and New Year bucks the national trend over the last decade. Convictions for alcohol related driving offences in England and Wales fell from 114,000 in 1989 to 93,000 in 1998.

Meanwhile Wigan and Leigh medics had to cope with a barrage of 999 calls in the early hours of New Year's Day. Across Greater Manchester ambulance crews were called out to nearly 240 emergency incidents in just two hours.

But health bosses insist that the situation was kept under control.

Statistics for the county showed that New Year's Eve proved to be a steady day with 999 emergency and urgent calls.

And in the first nine hours of January 1, the service handled 560 -- a huge drop in the number of calls compared with the same period last year.

An ambulance service spokesman said: "All the calls were responded to appropriately and no serious problems were reported."

Leigh Infirmary continued to operate as normal as thousands of townsfolk welcomed in the New Year.

The pressure was eased with more people using the special NHS Direct hotline. Statistics showed that 1,407 calls were made to the help line from Greater Manchester residents in the run up to the New Year.