drunken motorists during the latest quarter of this year than the same time last year.

Between April 1 and June 30, 87 drivers were arrested and 51 people failed breathalyser tests, with 26 refusals.

This compared with 66 arrests, 48 failures and 12 refusals for the same time last year.

A Police spokeswoman said one reason for the increase in the numbers of arrests was the decentralisation policy introduced in December, which created three traffic enforcement units across the Island as well as one attached to operations.

This has led to a higher enforcement level across the Island, she said.

The figures show that all those arrested were men and those most likely to drink and drive (26) were aged between 22 and 30.

They were followed by men aged between 31 and 40 (20), 41 and 50 (18), over 50 (12) and 18 and 21 (11).

Police made most of their arrests at the weekend. On Saturdays, 17 were picked up, 15 on Fridays and 14 on Sundays.

Most arrests were made between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. (28), followed by 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. (21) and 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. (20).

The average failure rate was 181.2 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood -- the legal limit is 80 milligrammes of alcohol. The highest reading was 301 milligrammes.

A Police spokeswoman said yesterday: "The reason for the increased number of people arrested will be the decentralisation policy introduced which means there are three divisions, as well as operations, which have their own traffic units. This has resulted in wider coverage and more enforcement.'' Road Safety Officer Roxanne Christopher refused to comment until she had seen the figures for herself.