THE number of women caught drink-driving in Scotland has risen by 59 per cent in the first fortnight of the festive season crackdown, police said yesterday.

In the first two weeks of the campaign, 73 women were caught, compared with 46 for the same period last year.

In the second week alone, 41 women failed or refused to give breath tests compared with 27 for the same week of 2002, a 52 per cent rise.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, which issued the figures, said that they were “worrying”. The association said last week that the number of women caught drink-driving was up by 60 per cent on the previous year’s rates in the first week of the crackdown. Overall, the number of motorists caught drink-driving in Scotland during the National Festive Road Safety campaign has fallen slightly, it said.

In total, 194 drivers failed or refused a breath test, compared with 208 for the same weekly period last year, a 7 per cent fall. The first two weeks of the campaign detected 396 cases of drink-driving compared with 405 last year, down 2 per cent.

The number of drivers affected by drugs was also down, with 15 being charged for the first two weeks of this year compared with 19 last year.

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