More than 100 drink-drivers a week are being caught by police during the run-up to Christmas in Northern Ireland.
A "we warned you" message was issued by the police service as they released figures yesterday showing 217 drivers were detected to be over the limit in the first two weeks of the annual winter campaign mounted by the PSNI.
Supt Bill Brown said the detection rate reflected a robust approach being taken by police. "We warned at the outset that people who drove after drinking were likely to be caught. The fact that we are averaging around 100 detections a week shows we are delivering on that promise," he said.
Supt Brown said if an irresponsible minority was determined to drink and drive they could be assured police were determined to catch them.
The PSNI said 47 per cent of breath tests were carried out between midnight and 3am. Of the 200-plus caught, 77 were two times over the limit, 24 three times over the limit and two drivers four times over the limit.