DRIVERS in Wales are up to six times as likely to be breath tested on the roads this December.

Motorists are being warned that more tests are carried out by police around the festive period than at any other time of year.

Analysis of Home Office data by AlcoSense Breathalysers shows that in December last year, more than 7,000 drivers were stopped by police across Wales on suspicion of drink driving.

Just over 1,000 of those were performed in Gwent.

North Wales Police led the way with nearly 4,000 tests, while 1,567 were carried out by South Wales Police, and 785 by Dyfed-Powys Police.

Of the 7,345 breath tests carried out in Wales last December, 624 were positive, a failure rate of 8.5 per cent.

The 322 people arrested in North Wales was the highest outside of the Metropolitan Police area of Greater London.

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Hunter Abbott, managing director of AlcoSense Laboratories, said: "We might be going to fewer Christmas parties this year, but several studies show that people have been drinking more alcohol during lockdown.

“This increase has been driven by job uncertainty and pandemic anxiety, fuelled by the rise in at-home drinking where measures are more generous than a pub or restaurant.

“This trend makes it more likely that people may get behind the wheel and drive with alcohol still in their system the next morning.

"Even a small amount of alcohol slows reaction time, inhibits judgement and reduces concentration – increasing the likelihood of accidents.

“One in five drink drive convictions are in the morning. A personal breathalyser takes the guesswork out of knowing when alcohol has cleared the morning after the night before”

Welsh Police carried out 32,530 roadside breath tests throughout 2019 - of which 4,577 were either positive or refused.

Across England and Wales there were 8,860 injuries last year due to a driver being over the limit, including 240 deaths.