French prosecutors have begun to press criminal charges against bar owners and others who serve alcohol to drink-drive motorists, reports The Times .

The powerful new weapon against the country's high rate of drink driving is part of a blitz on bad driving and parking habits.

The Times reports that two cases over the past week have broken new ground in Europe and put the wind up French business, the hospitality trade in particular.

One example was a café owner in the Burgundy village of Varanges, who was last week charged with 'complicity' in the offences committed by Philippe Schehr, 44, a customer. With eight times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, Schehr killed three young men in a collision on 3 October.

The owner, who faces a possible two-year prison sentence, was ordered to close his premises pending his trial.

Alcohol is held to be the main factor in more than a third of France's annual 8,000 road deaths.

The drinks trade and some legal experts questioned the legality of the actions. Eric de Caumont, a lawyer who specialises in defending drivers, said that the new policy went too far and questioned whether this meant office parties would now be banned.