MOTORISTS in the North-East who drive the morning after a heavy drinking session are to be targeted in Europe's biggest crackdown on drink-driving.

Cleveland Police Assistant Chief Constable Adam Briggs, the UK's representative on the European network of traffic police, known as Tispol, is leading the attack on "morning-after motorists".

He will launch Operation AD2005 at police headquarters in Middlesbrough this morning and it will run until Sunday.

He said: "We are determined to get the message across that driving whilst under the influence is totally unacceptable, whether it's an evening or the morning after.

"We have drink-drive campaigns all year round but, with the party season effectively running throughout December, there are far more temptations about at this time, so it makes sense to run this in addition to the usual national campaigns.

"It means anyone who continues to ignore our warnings is very likely to get caught and punished.

"We want everyone to enjoy the festive season - but not at the expense of someone else's life."

AD2005 will see police in 20 countries across the EU testing more than 300,000 drivers. Anyone found to be under the influence of excessive alcohol or illegal drugs will be prosecuted.

Each year, more than 40,000 people are killed on Europe's roads and in the UK alone last year there were 3,200 road deaths, with drink or drugs involved in 590 of them.

Mr Briggs added: "This is an enormous amount of lives lost and an enormous amount of suffering for those left behind, which must not be allowed to continue year after year."