There has been a slight decrease in the amount of drink-driving arrests in the third quarter of 2001 compared to the same period last year according to the latest Police statistics.

But while fewer drivers were arrested, more either failed or refused to take an alco-analyser test.

Police made 97 arrests between July and September of this year while 102 arrests were made in the same three month period last year.

This year there were 55 failures, 31 refusals and 11 passes, against 58 failures, 24 refusals and 20 passes last year.

The third quarter's figure is also higher then the previous three months of the year when 78 arrests were made and 65 motorists either failed or refused to take the test.

Assistant Police Commissioner Carlton Adams said the increase in arrests was "probably due to more vigilance by Police during the Cup Match holiday weekend".

Weekends proved to be the most common time for drivers who had been drinking to take to the roads with 46 people - nearly half - arrested on Saturday or Sunday. Nearly two thirds of all arrests were made in the early hours of the morning.

The ages of the those arrested ranged from 17 to 65, with 33 motorists stopped between the ages of 22 to 30-years-old, 23 between the ages of 31 to 40-years-old and 17 between 41 and 50-years-old. One 17-year-old driver refused to take and eight of those stopped were over the age of 50.

Just nine women - less than ten percent - were arrested in the three month period while motorists on bikes made up nearly two thirds of arrests.

The statistics showed that there were 22 accidents resulting from drink-driving during the period compared to 23 in the three preceding months.

Assistant Commissioner Adams appealed to the public to continue to use good judgement when getting behind the wheel.

''Police continue to work with outside agencies to ensure the safety of Bermuda's roads,'' he said.

''We appeal to the public to use good judgement and to adhere to the designated driver system if they require transportation after consuming alcohol.''