DRIVERS in the Crewe area, including Middlewich, had the joint-highest number of drink-driving arrests during a clampdown in December.

Figures show that 31 drink-driving arrests were made by the Crewe Local Policing Unit (LPU) in the area during the month, the joint-highest amount along with Warrington.

While Warrington’s drink-driving figures fell from 37 arrests in December 2015, Crewe’s total represented a rise of 61 per cent on the previous year.

Crewe LPU also had the second-highest amount of drug-driving arrests during the month with 18, down from 21 in figures from the previous year.

In total, 156 people were arrested for drink-driving during the operation, with 111 arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of illegal drugs.

Inspector Steve Griffiths, from the Cheshire roads policing unit said: “It’s astonishing to see how many people still believe that it is acceptable to driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.

“The message is clear, if you drive whilst under the influence of drink or drugs in Cheshire, you will be caught.”