THE number of motorists caught drink and drug driving over the Christmas period has dropped for the third year running.

Sussex Police arrested 194 people across the county for drink driving between December 1 and January 5.

The figure was down from 216 in 2013/14 and 227 in 2012/13 – and the lowest since 2010/11.

The fall in arrests comes as Sussex Police’s December campaign was jointly run with Surrey Police and Sussex Safer Roads Partnership for the first time.

As part of Operation Dragonfly – Sussex Police’s year-round strategy to remove drink and drug-drivers from the streets – roads policing unit officers are on dedicated patrols looking for offenders.

Teams will also respond to tip-offs from the public who see someone they know who has been drinking getting into a car to drive.

Superintendent Jane Derrick, of Sussex Police, said the figures were only a “snapshot” of a limited part of the county as Operation Dragonfly only operated in one part of Sussex at any one time.

She said: “I hope that all the work we are doing to highlight the dangers of driving while under the influence is making people think twice if they are considering getting behind the wheel while drunk or on drugs.

“We are continuing to arrest drivers over the limit every day so the message has not got through to everyone.

“We do not tolerate drink driving and it is socially unacceptable in modern Britain but there remains a hardcore of people who continue to get into their cars after drinking.”

Ms Derrick stressed that drink driving was not just a problem at Christmas and warned offenders that officers were on patrol “24 hours a day, 365 days a year”.

She added: “There is no such thing as harmless drink driving and I urge anyone who knows about someone taking drugs or drinking and then getting behind the wheel to contact us.”