LANCASHIRE Police today hailed the Christmas and New Year anti drink drive campaign a huge success despite failing to reveal the exact number of motorists who were given breath tests.

Police in the county revealed that they carried out 960 breath tests following accidents and 31 were positive. They also revealed that there were 252 accidents resulting in injuries during the national two-week campaign.

They say statistics for their own month-long anti drink driving campaign, which may include the number of roadside spot-checks carried out in the county, are still being collated and are expected to be released later.

But the force came under fire from anti-drink driving campaigners for failing to reveal the total number of motorists stopped and breath-tested in roadside spot checks.

Maria Cape, of the Campaign Against Drink Driving, said: "It's just not good enough. The figures are not released for fear that some police forces will look worse than others but it is absolutely ridiculous.

"How can we tell how our campaigns are affecting motorists when we don't know how many were stopped and how many were over the limit. I think it is right that people involved in accidents are stopped and breath tested and is important to know how many had been drinking but those figures alone do not give a clear picture of the problem."

Lancashire Police have released figures in line with Association of Chief Police Officers guidelines.

A spokeswoman said: "These are nationally agreed statistics agreed by ACPO for the two week national campaign."

Chief Inspector Ian Bell, head of road safety in the division, said the roadside spot checks had been successful.

He said: "Early indications are that the vast majority of motorists supported our efforts.

"The roadside spot checks had an impact as most drivers had not consumed any alcohol at all.

"In the week before Christmas, which is traditionally a very busy time for drink related accidents, there were very few arrests.

"The public are to be praised for their support."

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