Between April and June, officers stopped 85 people -- the majority of whom were male -- compared to 53 in the preceding three months from January to March.

The number is also higher than the same period last year, when there were 79 arrests.

Of the 85 stopped this year, 56 failed a breath test, 20 refused and nine passed. Just seven of the total were women, all of whom failed.

In 1997, 54 failed, 17 refused and eight passed.

Most of the arrests were made over the weekends between 10 p.m. and 1.a.m., with the 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. period having the second highest number of arrests.

The major age group was 31-40, followed by 22-30, and 41-50.

The under 18s accounted for three arrests and the over 50s nine.

The highest reading was 306 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit being 80.

Impaired driving was the cause in 23 road accidents, and most of those stopped were on bikes, followed by cars and vans.

FAMILIES ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND ROAD SHOW THR Families encouraged to attend road show A theatrical road show, which was stopped by rain last week, will go on.

The Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation yesterday announced that the show will take place today at 7.30 p.m. at Bernard Park.

The show, entitled A Penny for your Thoughts , will continue as scheduled on Thursday evening at the Town Square in St. George's.

Families are encouraged to attend this outdoor family event. Refreshment stalls and seating are available.

The show is sponsored by the Youth and Sport Department and produced by Black Box Productions.

AMERICAN COUPLE FOIL WOULD-BE BAG SNATCHER CRM American couple foil would-be bag snatcher A Florida couple thwarted a would-be bag snatcher who struck while they were riding mopeds in the Devil's Hole area.

A man rode up behind the woman, who was following her husband, and grabbed hold of her hand bag strap, breaking it.

The woman still managed to hold on to her purse but collided with the culprit's bike in the process, burning her leg on her muffler.

When the husband turned around and spotted what was going on, he ran to help his wife but was challenged by the culprit.

The bandit, however, fled when the husband ran into the middle of the road and flagged down a passing motorist for assistance.

The culprit escaped, fleeing towards South Road, while the victims rode back to their hotel and called Police.

Eastern CID are investigating.

SLEEPING VISITOR LOSES SHORTS TO SNEAK THIEF CRM Sleeping visitor loses shorts to sneak thief A visitor had a pair of shorts nicked from his Pembroke hotel room while he slept.

Police said the theft took place at the Waterloo House on Pitts Bay Road between 6 and 8 p.m. on Monday.

The culprit was believed to have entered through a closed, but unsecured door.

The blue shorts contained a quantity of cash and credit cards.

A Hamilton clothing store also fell victim to a thief on Monday.

Grant's Boutique on Washington Lane was broken into during the early hours of Monday morning.

Clothing and the shops telephone were stolen.

And a television and VCR were stolen from the West Pembroke School storeroom sometime over the weekend.

The school's cleaner discovered the theft early Monday morning.