THE number of people found with alcohol or drugs in their breath following a collision has dropped this year in West Mercia.

Figures from the Safer Roads Partnership in Warwickshire and West Mercia also show that the overall percentage of positive breath tests has decreased, despite a record high for the number of people tested.

In the region, 143 people either refused to give a test or tested positive for drink or drugs in December 2013 – 3.8% of those breathalysed.

That figure is down from last year's 4.4% for the same period.

An additional 16 people either refused to give a test or tested positive for drink or drugs following a collision – just 1.5% of those tested, compared to 3% over the same period in 2012.

And in the past three years, there have been 19 casualties – where someone was either killed or seriously injured – and 113 slight injuries following collisions where drink or drugs were recorded as a contributory factor in Herefordshire.