POLICE in Dorset breath tested 8,500 motorists for drink driving, according to Home Office figures.

Officers found that 1,700 of the motorists were over the limit or refused to take the breathalyser test.

The drink driver offences were among 112,300 motoring offences recorded by the Dorset force.

The figure worked out as 1,216 breath tests per 100,000 of the county's population.

That compared to the lowest figures of 387 breath tests per 100,000 residents in Hertfordshire and the highest of 3,384 per 100,000 in Derbyshire.

Police in the West Midlands, Staffordshire, Northampton-shire, Gwent and Lancashire also carried out relatively few tests while drivers in North Wales, Hampshire and Lincolnshire were more likely to be tested.

The Home Office figures for 2003 also showed that Dorset Police issued 100 written warnings and 67,100 fixed penalty notices. There were 42,300 court proceedings in the county as a result of offences. Devon and Cornwall was among forces with the lowest number of tests per 100,000 of population with 686.

The figures showed a three per cent rise nationwide in the number of positive or refused breath tests, climbing from 103,000 in 2002 to 106,000 in 2003. But the overall number of breath tests fell six per cent to 534,000.

One in six fatal collisions involved a driver over the limit and drink drive deaths rose to 560 in 2003, the highest for seven years. Speed camera penalties rose by more than £500,000 to £1.8 million in 2003.