POLICE have warned that their drink driving campaign is for life and not just for Christmas.

Between December 18 and January 2 fewer people were arrested than last year in Macclesfield for driving over the limit.

But Sergeant Frank Marshall of Macclesfield police traffic division warned this was no reason to be complacent.

"We don't want people to think that we are only vigilant over the Christmas period," he said.

"As far as we are concerned the campaign is a year-round thing to keep drink drivers off the roads and not just a seasonal thing.

"We were glad to see the figures drop over Christmas but we were also concerned about the number of people arrested in the post-Christmas period.

"We are not going to be complacent. We still urge anyone with information on drink drivers to ring the Ring And Tell Someone (RATS) line - we don't want people thinking we are not interested anymore because it's not Christmas."

Sergeant Marshall went on to say the hardcore drink drivers are the ones they want to catch because they pose the greatest risk.

He said that they were the ones who were most likely to be caught through the RATS line because they eventually annoy the people they are drinking with.

"Sometimes it's a retribution thing, sometimes there are domestic reasons," he said.

"We don't care, as long as they are caught."

Police targeted specific drinking spots where they knew certain people were drinking and driving.

And at least one person in Macclesfield was caught out after someone rang the RATS line.

Macclesfield police now have an unmarked car equipped with a video camera which was used to catch the culprit.

Throughout Cheshire over the Christmas period 23 people were arrested for drink driving compared with last year's figure of 24.

A police spokeswoman said: "Through the use of intelligence and targeting specific locations positive results have been achieved through making the most effective and efficient use of police resources.

"Fewer drink drivers on the road indicates that the constabulary's message that drinking and driving will not be tolerated is hitting home."