Motorists are being urged not to risk getting into hot water during the hot weather by risking getting caught drink- or drug-driving.

Merseyside Police's summer-long drink-drive campaign launches this week with the aim of reducing road deaths and injuries caused by those who drive under the influence.

Traffic officers will be out in force across the county throughout the summer to catch offenders and take them off the roads before they harm themselves or others.

And they will also be going into local colleges to raise awareness among young drivers about just how badly their ability to drive is impaired by drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

Sergeant Paul Mountford from the Force's roads policing department, said: "Our Christmas campaign was hugely successful with more than 3000 drivers breathalysed and 62 arrested in just two weeks, and we are seeking to emulate it throughout the summer.

"With lighter nights and, hopefully, warmer weather, we appreciate that people will like to enjoy a drink on an evening but what they should not do is then get behind the wheel of a car and drive.

"Up to 70 people a year are killed or seriously injured on our roads in Merseyside as a direct result of drivers being under the influence so clearly the consequences are devastating.

"Last June 12% of motorists we breathalysed were arrested so our message to people who are tempted to drive having taken any amount of alcohol or drugs is not to take such a huge risk and gamble with their life and the lives of others."

As well as targeting motorists who drink or take drugs and then drive home from the pub or a barbecue at night, police officers will also be cracking down on people who get behind the wheel the morning after when could still be over the limit.

More than one-in-four of all deaths on the road involve drivers who are over the legal limit and one fifth of arrests made in previous campaigns were people who failed breath tests the morning after.

Men aged between 17 and 29 years are particularly prone to drink- or drug-driving and part of the Force's summer campaign will involve officers going into colleges and educating young drivers about the risks involved.

Sergeant Mountford added: "Young drivers have so much to look forward to, they should not consider risking it all by driving under the influence. Even the smallest amount of alcohol or cannabis can impair your ability behind the wheel.

"If it is in your system, you will be prosecuted, and may end up with a criminal record.

"We will be putting as many college students as we can through a driving simulator as part of this campaign to show them just how hard it is drive safely while drunk or high.

"Hopefully, by experiencing it themselves, they will realise just how much danger they are putting themselves, their passengers and other people in if they get behind the wheel in that state."