Too many drivers are not heeding the drink drive message this Christmas, police have warned.

Nearly 5,000 people have been stopped and breathalysed since the festive drink drive campaign was launched in Essex on December 1.

However, the percentage of people providing positive tests has actually risen marginally from last year.

The figures have been described as "disappointing" by traffic police chiefs who say they are determined to crack down on those determined to flout the law. Of 4,803 drivers stopped since the start of the month, 185 have provided positive breath tests and have been arrested.

It represents a 3.85 per cent failure rate. At the same time last year officers had stopped 5,734 drivers and positive breath tests accounted for 210 - a failure rate of 3.7 per cent.

Chief Insp Tom Diment, operations manager of Essex Police's mobile support division, said: "I am disappointed by the number of people who choose to commit the criminal offence of drinking and driving.

"The amount of positive breath tests shows that there are still a lot of people who have total disregard for not only the safety of others but also their own safety."

This year's campaign has seen Essex Police work in partnership with train operator First Great Eastern, the Chicago Rock Cafe club group and the alcohol manufacturers organisation the Portman Group.

The campaign will continue until the new year.

Published Friday December 28, 2001