As the seasonal Christmas parties come to an end for another year, it has emerged that Hertfordshire has the fourth highest number of drunk-walking injuries in the first two months of the year.

With 33 incidents recorded during January and February, Hertfordshire is higher than several major metropolitan areas, including Merseyside, Nottinghamshire and Aberdeen when it comes to getting into hot water while walking home after a night out.

Between these months in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, 27 people were injured in Merseyside, eight people suffered injuries in Nottinghamshire and nine punters were hurt in Aberdeen.

However, across the same four year period spanning every month, seven people in Hertfordshire have died after an incident while walking home, 32 people have been seriously injured and 89 have been "slightly injured".

Road Safety GB, which aims to reduce the number of severe road traffic collisions by lobbying the government on road safety issues, classifies "slight injuries" as people who may have needed treatment at the roadside.

Liz Brooker, spokesman for Road Safety GB told the Watford Observer that accidents happen as a result of people "sitting in the street", "not looking properly" and "falling over" into the road after their judgment is impaired by alcohol.

She said: "It is surprising that the number of pedestrian injuries peak during January and February. When we have bad weather, the statistics tend to go down.

"People do not drive as much when we have bad weather. People do have slips on the ice and people are going to hospital with sprains, but generally, because drivers are staying at home, the number of incidents does tend to March.

"All the campaigns are out in December, reminding us to be safe [during the Christmas season] and warnings not to drink drive, but in January, it goes very quiet.

"There are no reminders about being safe and being seen.

"Over the years, the number of incidents is coming down, but we did have two fatalities last year. Every fatality is one too many and we are trying to get it down to zero."

Hertfordshire Constabulary listed the fourth highest number of incidents, behind the Metropolitan Police Service (87), Devon and Cornwall Constabulary (43) and Thames Valley Police (39).  

The statistics were collected by Confused.com and ordered by the number of recorded incidents in each police force.

Overall, Hertfordshire had the ninth highest number of injuries, with 128 reported incidents, but the Metropolitan Police Service (635), Kent County Constabulary (473) and Glasgow City Council (461) recorded the highest number of incidents.

Michael Nadasdy, from Hertfordshire’s County Community Safety Unit, said: "The festive season encourages more social activity through work, friends and family and therefore it is even more important to make arrangements to get home safely.

"Plan ahead for your night out, organise your travel arrangements, stick with your friends and be sensible about how much you drink. Drink water or a soft drink between alcoholic drinks to rehydrate you and pace yourself.

"Remember when you are organising your night out this festive season to consider your transport carefully - we want everyone to enjoy themselves by taking some simple steps and planning ahead you can ensure that your night out is a night to remember rather than a night to forget."

Ms Brooker added that the organisation has been advising motorists when driving around city centres.

She said: "If you are going past city centres, when the pubs are kicking out, to drive as though they are driving past a school at 3.30pm and look out for unexpected behaviour from adults, just like you would from a child."

Thirty-nine 25-34 year olds have been involved in incidents while walking home from a night out, 34 18-24 year-olds have been hurt, but one 0-17 year old was injured during the four-year-period.

The highest number of injuries were reported between midnight and 2am (26), which was closely followed by the period between 6pm and 8pm with 25 reported injuries.