Roads Policing Unit officers' recent work to tackle drink and drug drivers resulted in further 60 arrests, bringing the two-week total to 122 arrests.

Throughout December, Essex Police's Roads Policing Unit officers are supporting a national drink drive campaign, Operation Limit, in an aim to tackle drink driving.

The campaign aims to take dangerous drivers off the road in an effort to reduce the number of killed and seriously injured collisions in Essex.

During the second week of enforcement action, commencing Monday 9 December, officers arrested 22 drink drivers and 32 drug drivers.

Six motorists were arrested for failing to provide a specimen – a total of 60 arrests.

More than half of those arrests took place between Friday 13 and Sunday 15 December.

This brings the two-week enforcement arrests to 122 in total.

Inspector Emma Patterson, who leads the Roads Policing Unit's Christmas drink drive campaign, said: "We've been out and about, routinely patrolling the county's roads to identify poor and dangerous driving caused as a direct result of excess alcohol.  

"The second week's figures show we're taking a zero-tolerance approach and arresting offenders.

"But we're not turning a blind eye to other offenders – we're also targeting those who pose as great a risk to the public through their drug taking.

"Socially, both drink and drug driving are abhorrent. We often highlight the risks linked to drink or drug driving. Not only are both offences against the law, but it's also important for those drivers to realise that before they get behind the wheel, that they're not totally in control if they do.

"Both take time to work their way through your system and could give you a false sense of security, that you're safe to drive. But both can affect your judgement of situations and slow your reactions to hazards. You could misjudge stopping distances or take chances that you normally wouldn't take and putting others at risk by your risky behaviour."