OVER the weekend traffic officers arrested 37 people in Somerset, in the Avon and Somerset Constabulary’s Operation Tonic campaign

More than a hundred people are facing loosing their licences after being arrested for drink or drug-driving in the area. And a total of 136 people have been arrested since the force’s campaign began on Dec 1.

Chief Inspector Yannis Georgiou of Avon and Somerset’s operations and roads policing unit said: “The figures show that we are determined to send out a very strong message that drink or drug-drivers will be stopped and arrested and banned from the roads.

“Drivers must realise that there is no safe drinking limit, other than not drinking at all.”

Police say they will be maintaining their efforts as Christmas approaches, carrying out random stop checks of vehicles and targeting known hotspots at peak times to emphasise the don’t drink/drug-drive message.

Fourteen text messages have been received giving information about suspected drink or drug-drivers and police are reminding people to use mobile phone texting to help catch them.

They are asked to text the word drunk to 81819 and send in information about someone who has got behind the wheel under the influence. The messages are treated in the same way as an emergency 999 call.