SWINDON policeman Roger Blythin put it in a nutshell when he said that if you drive after drinking and are involved in a fatal accident you will have to spend the rest of your life with somebody's death on your conscience.

It's a tragic fact that this message has still to penetrate some people's minds, even though an estimated 20,000 lives have been saved since drink-drive campaigns began 25 years ago.

So responsible people should welcome the reminder from PC Blythin and his colleague PC Ian McLellan that the only safe way for road users to celebrate Christmas is to avoid alcohol altogether if they are planning to get behind the wheel.

Just one drink can be enough to affect our ability to drive safely even when we are still within the legal blood alcohol limit And Swindon Council road safety officer Margaret Tester's warning about the deceptive strength of the alcopops which are favoured by the young and inexperienced is particularly timely.

Last year a total of 520 people died as a result of road accidents which involved drivers who had been drinking. Just one would have been too many. And we must not kid ourselves that Christmas and New Year are the only times when the booze flows and sense flies out of the window.

We should aim to make this the year when nobody is fatally injured on Wiltshire's roads because a driver has consumed a few Christmas drinks, and nobody is arrested for being over the limit.