MORE than 1,000 motorists were stooped during the county's December drink drive campaign.

Roadside police checks were stepped up for the Eat, Think, Be Merry campaign throughout December, while warnings were promoted across Gloucestershire urging people not to touch a drop before getting behind the wheel.

Over the period 1,569 drivers were stopped, 57 of whom were arrested leading to a failure rate of 3.6 per cent.

This compared to 1,835 drivers being stopped during the December campaign in 2012, 69 of whom were arrested with a failure rate of 3.8 per cent.

Chief fire officer Jon Hall, who is also head of operations at the Road Safety Partnership, said: "It's encouraging to see the number of drivers caught over the limit has fallen but it's frustrating to see that some people are still not getting the message.

"Drink driving costs lives and we will continue to educate people locally. If lessons aren't learnt drivers can expect to be arrested and dealt with by the courts."

Cllr Will Windsor-Clive, cabinet member for fire, planning and infrastructure, said: "The Road Safety Partnership works all year round to educate drivers on the risks of drink driving and the results of this year's winter campaign show that message is hitting home.

"We will continue to make it clear to people that if they drink and drive they will be caught. It's just not worth taking the chance."

Figures show that, on average, three drivers a day fail a breath test in Gloucestershire, something that is reflected nationally.

In 2012, two collisions in the county a week involved someone who took the risk of drinking and driving and 31 of these people received fatal or serious injuries.

Kevin Roseblade, inspector for roads policing at Gloucestershire Police, said: "We're pleased that these results show a decrease, albeit slight, in the percentage of people failing breath tests.

"I can reassure people that our efforts to foster safe and social driving, a central part of our police and crime plan, will continue all year round and that we are determined to reduce the number of people putting their own lives and the lives of others at risk."

In 2012 280 people were killed in drink drive incidents across the country - an increase of around 17 per cent on 2011's figure.