THERE was an increase in traffic collisions and arrests at this year's TT.

During the fortnight, which celebrated 100 years of the Mountain Course, there were 92 road traffic collisions - including four fatal collisions and 32 serious incidents.

All the fatal and serious collisions involved motorcycles.

Last year there was 79 collisions and just one of them was fatal.

A total of 198 arrests were made - the vast majority of them locals - while 182 were made last year. See the bottom of this story for full details.

Inspector Mark Britton of the Roads Policing Unit said: "This has been a very busy year for the Roads Policing Unit. We have been engaged in some very serious incidents and at times crash scenes resembled a war zone.

"My thoughts go out to the family and friends of those people that have died and to those who are or have been seriously injured.

"The team have worked tirelessly to try and keep collisions down but given the volume of traffic on the roads during this year's TT it has been a difficult task.

"Enforcement levels are good and pro-activity high.

"I pay tribute to the police officers from the team and within the constabulary for the work they have done. We will start the work towards next year's TT by reviewing what we have done this year and whether there are any improvements we can make to keep people safe." 

 
There were 13 drink drive arrests - of those four people have been charged, four have been bailed and there will be no further action in five of the cases.

In 2010 there were seven drink drive arrests - six were charged and in one case there was no further action.

From May 29 to June 12 the control room managed around 1,100 calls for the police. This was on a par with 2010.

Force media officer Inspector Derek Flint said: "TT 2011 was a challenging festival, as it is every year.

"We deliver the policing service completely 'in house', and it is a huge logistical operation to make sure that staff are in the right place at the right time, but also to be able to deal with the unexpected as well as the predictable.

"The use of Twitter and Facebook this year has, I believe, given locals and visitors alike a better insight into what we have to contend with, on the roads at least.

"We hope the information has been both of interest and also helped people go about their daily business a little more smoothly.

"Outside of roads policing operational demand has been pretty much on a par with last year.

"198 arrests over a two week period is a challenge and involves us opening multiple custody sites to manage demand.

"As can be seen from the figures provided, the visitor element tends to be pretty well behaved, compared to the significant local element that were arrested.

"Now the festival is over we will as always sit down both internally and with our partners and analyse how we did and how we can be better for next year and beyond.

"We have received many plaudits for our efforts, but certainly won't be resting easy.

"TT policing is an element of our work where we really are on the world stage and we are acutely aware of how big a part that has to play in the projection of the festival as a world class event."

Arrest statistics

Total arrests: 198

Locals arrested: 155

Visitors arrested: 43

Arrests involving drink/drunkenness: 136

Arrests involving violence/assault or public order: 108

Breaches of court bail: 18

Arrests for drink driving: 13

Arrests involving drugs: 13

All these figures are provisional and subject to ratification