POLICE in North Yorkshire have vowed to continue taking drink drivers off the road after 143 motorists were arrested during the county's Christmas campaign.

One man arrested in Ryedale was almost four times over the limit – the highest breathalyser reading recorded during the campaign.

He was banned from driving until Summer 2023, given a curfew and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work.

Another man in Scarborough was arrested twice in the same week on suspicion of drug driving.

And a delivery driver from Darlington arrested near Skipton was charged with driving his van while he was almost three times over the alcohol limit.

During the campaign, which ran between December 1 and January 1, police patrolled roads and acted on information supplied by the public, which led to several arrests.

Sergeant Andy Morton, who led the operation for North Yorkshire Police, said: “It’s very concerning that despite us warning drink drivers we’d catch them, so many ignored these warnings.

"They risked it and now they are facing the consequences.

“As everyone else anticipates getting back to some kind of normality in 2021, these motorists will be adjusting to life without a driving licence.

“In a large rural county such as North Yorkshire, losing your licence can make life very difficult and sometimes costs people their job.

"When you are allowed to drive again, insurance costs sky-rocket.

“But we see the horrific aftermath of drink driving collisions, so we have very little sympathy for anyone who chooses to endanger themselves and others.

“That’s why we’ll be continuing to focus on drink and drug drivers throughout 2021.

"We’re determined to get them off our roads and we know the public fully support that.

Sgt Morton added: “I’d also like to thank members of the public who called us to report suspected drink drivers this year – we acted on the information and arrests were made as a direct result of these calls.”

Like last year, Scarborough district saw the highest number of arrests during the campaign, again closely followed by the Harrogate and York districts.

Six motorists were arrested in Richmond and nine in Hambleton.