ALMOST one fifth of motorists arrested during a Christmas crackdown on drink and drug-driving by West Yorkshire Police were from Bradford.

Officers arrested 253 people - 50 of them from Bradford - as part of the Not The Usual Suspects campaign, which ran from December 1 until Sunday.?

Of those arrested across the county, 155 people were charged, including 29 - 23 men and six women - from Bradford. During the 2015 campaign, 239 people were arrested and 153 were charged.

Sergeant Gary Roper, of the Roads Policing Support Unit, said: “The number of drink-driving charges is decreasing nationally which is a step in the right direction.

“This could be that we have been constantly reminding people about the consequences, or people have decided that it is simply not worth the risk.

“In West Yorkshire, the numbers of arrests and chargers mirrors the national trend, however we are still very concerned about the number of young people who have been charged.

“Drink-driving can have devastating consequences for the person behind the wheel, their passengers and other road users. The campaign was really positively received, and I hope that people continue to take the messages seriously as we move into the new year.

“Officers from across the force continue to tackle drink and drug-driving every day of the year and we would remind people it simply isn’t worth the risk to drink and drive.”

Police wanted to highlight that it was not always the usual suspects who drink and drive.

The campaign used deliberately stereotyped characters to challenge the public’s perception about those who drink or drug drive. ?

In Bradford, the highest number of people charged were in the 25-to-34 age group. The youngest person charged in Bradford was aged 17.

Across the county, 43 per cent of the people charged were aged 35 or over. Nine people were arrested across the county on Christmas Day, and nine on New Year’s Day.