WOMEN are being warned about drink-driving as the Christmas party season approaches.

Roads policing inspector Colin Clark said those in their 30s, particularly women, would be the focus of this year’s Christmas crackdown.

Insp Clark said: “We have been targeting certain age groups. We’ve seen a spike in drivers aged in their 30s and an increase in the women who are prepared to drink and drive.

“Normally it’s the young male driver who has been highlighted, but over the last year or so we’ve seen an increase among women.”

Launching the annual operation against those motorists who flout the law, officers promised they would be out on the county’s roads 24 hours a day to target lunchtime drinkers, those taking a risk on the way home from office Christmas parties and hung-over drivers who are still over the legal limit the morning after the night before.

And they’ll also be arresting and charging drivers on the road under the influence of drugs.

Peter Hindshaw, chaiman of Oxfordshire Unlimited that campaigns on behalf of disabled people, was paralysed when a drink-driver crashed the car he was in.

He welcomed the campaign and urged drinkers to think about how they will get home safely.

He said: “I can look anybody in the face and say ‘46 years of paralysis I faced just because I got into a car driven by someone not fit to drive’.

“My mistake was I wasn’t in a fit state to make a sensible decision, but I knew perfectly well he wasn’t fit to drive.”

Insp Clark said: “There were 64 positive tests throughout December in Oxfordshire last year. “These are people who are still prepared to get in their cars after drinking more than the legal limit.

“We did approximately 1,700 breath tests in the last Christmas campaign and people might think these figures are low, but that’s 64 motorists who put themselves, other motorists and the public at risk.”

In the city, traffic officers will be out with speed guns on main arterial routes including Botley Road, Woodstock Road and Banbury Road.

They will also be on the lookout for those drinking and driving in rural areas.

He added: “The main message is we are not here to spoil anybody’s night out, we want everybody who has a good evening to get home safely.

“The responsibility is with the driver not to drink or take drugs and drive. There’s also a responsibility with the passenger not to get in a car with that person.

“Nominate one designated driver.”