Fewer drivers were caught in Keighley over the legal alcohol limit during the festive season.

Five motorists face prosecution for drink-driving - two less than last year - out of the 190 who were breath-tested in the Keighley area between Dec-ember 14 and January 3.

Keighley Police Traffic Sergeant Richard Czornowol says 12 people were arrested as a result of roadside tests and five proved positive back at the police station.

"That is five too many," he says. "I don't think the message has still got through. Quite a number of people had alcohol in their system, even if it was below the limit. People still continue to drink and drive."

Last year 173 people were breath-tested at the roadside, 17 fewer than this year.

More drivers were caught drink-driving in the Skipton police division - which includes South Craven - over the Christmas and New Year period than in any other area of North Yorkshire. Five drivers tested positive in the Skipton division, out of the 17 people county-wide who tested positive after being involved in crashes. It compares with four in the Harr-ogate division, three in Rich-mond, two in Scarborough and Malton, and one in Selby.

In the Skipton area there were 315 people breath-tested between December 18 and January 2, a rise of 44 on last year. The 17 county-wide positive tests was one more than last year.

However, there was a fall in the number of people injured in accidents related to drink, from 113 in 1997/98 to 96 over the latest period.

Chief Insp David Shot, head of North Yorkshire police's traffic department, says: "We are pleased with the decrease in those injured in accidents over the holiday, but disappointed that the county still has a hard core of men and women who believe they can mix drinking and driving. Seventeen is not many across the county's 6,000 miles of roads but it's still 17 too many."

He says police will continue to take a hard line on drinking and driving and take strong measures every day of the year to stamp out the menace.

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