ESSEX Police's roads policing unit has reported a staggering rise in the number of people arrested for drug or drink driving last month.

Throughout December the force mounted a pre-Christmas campaign in a bid to stop people offending, but the message doesn't appear to have been heeded as the monthly toll of arrests in a record figure in a month, beating the previous tally by 65!

Unit inspector Rob Bretell says: "It baffles me that the message doesn't seem to be getting through."

In total there were 403 arrests, 173 for drink driving, 169 for using drugs and 61 people failed to provide a sample.