Held in 27 countries between 7 and 13 December 2015, the drink-drive enforcement operation organised by TISPOL saw police conduct 1,134,924 roadside breath tests for alcohol, of which 15,791 were positive.

Motorists were also checked for drugs in the operation, and 3,157 offences were detected.

TISPOL general secretary Ruth Purdie said: “These figures show a continued decline in the proportion of drivers who fail breath tests, which is good news.

“However, if we scale up that proportion to include all the 300 million licence holders across Europe, then we reach an estimate of more than four million drink-drivers.

“This shows that drink-driving remains a massive problem which will continue to threaten our efforts to meet the EU’s 2020 casualty reduction targets.

“Police officers across Europe will continue to target drink-drivers all year round, so if you choose to take a risk by driving after drinking alcohol, then we will find you and bring you to justice because we will not tolerate the risk you pose to yourself and to other innocent road users who may be in your way.”

The operation also enabled police to make other appropriate safety and security checks. During the week-long campaign, officers also detected and dealt with offences connected with illegal immigration and human trafficking (132), drug-related crimes (448), firearms crimes (46), property crimes (165), wanted persons (244), and 1,173 other crimes.