Drinkers in north Wales are being urged not to walk home drunk in a new hard-hitting safety campaign aimed at cutting the number of road deaths.

North Wales Police have warned people to arrange for someone to drive them home or get a taxi rather than walk.

There have been incidents where people have laid down in the middle of the road

North Wales Police Inspector Brian Robinson

It comes after researched showed 10 out of 17 pedestrians killed on roads in the region last year had been drinking.

Inspector Brian Robinson said the advice may seem obvious but the statistics prove people are not looking after themselves.

"In the last five years we've had 46 people killed on the roads of north Wales as pedestrians, that is an unacceptable high figure.

"We're trying to highlight the dangers because out of that, there's a high number that were drunk whilst walking home.

Beer mats are being sent to pubs

"There have been incidents where people have laid down in the middle of the road, there have been incidents where people have been running after buses and taxis.

"We're not trying to be killjoys - we're trying to work this in with our drink driving campaign and highlight to people the need to plan ahead about how they're going to get home," he said.

Inspector Robinson said the scheme, which ran for the first time last year, spells out some good tips.

High visibility

"Have a designated driver, book a taxi - go ahead and enjoy yourself but try and take care on the way home," he said.

The North Wales Road Safety Group - which includes the six local north Wales authorities and the police - also advocate walkers wearing high visibility clothing so they can be seen.

Sheila Humphreys-Jones, community safety officer for Wrexham council said they have taken the message directly to the drinkers.

"We've had 50,000 beer mats printed and they're going to as many pubs and clubs in the north Wales area as we can get them to.

"They just say enjoy yourself but walk home safely, a simple message but we hope enough of a reminder to everybody enjoying the festivities to take care," she said.