They made up the bulk of the 14 people charged with drink-driving over the weekend.

The Tamworth and District Liquor Accord is concerned the thousands of dollars it has spent on advertising campaigns against drink driving has not had an effect.

Since November, the accord has spent $15,000 encouraging people to take different forms of transport home.

More than half of the people charged with mid-range-drink driving offences at the weekend were over 35.

The accord fear they have targeted the wrong generation.

“The accord is really concerned with the number of PCAs over the weekend,” project manager John Begley said.

“Since November we have spent $15,000 on a media campaign encourage people to take different forms of transport home.

“We are seeing that people don’t seem to be taking any notice.

“From what we can gather, the majority of the PCAs are of people 35 and upwards.

“We were targeting more young people and are finding that people who know better aren’t as responsible.”

Accord chairman Roger Rumble said the accord would work with police on strategies to combat the issue.

Ideas include a taxi voucher system and designated-driver initiatives.

“We’ll be working on ways to target that age group and the accord will be working with police to do that,” he said.

“Secure cab policies, supporting campaigns and trying to get more cabs on the road at the peak times.

“These are the things that the accord will hit hard in the next six months.”

Mr Rumble and Mr Begley said they believed it was at least seven per cent of the local population who were the cause of alcohol-related issues in the city.

Oxley Local Area Command Inspector Jeff Budd said he believed the message of drink-driving had been repeated and ignored too many times before.

“The government has gone ahead and spent millions on advertising and education for drink-driving, but until such time as the penalties match the offences and the risk to us all, some people still won’t get the message,” he said.