ELECTRONIC road signs near the Border with England are to be used to alert motorists entering Scotland to the forthcoming change in the drink-drive limit.

The public awareness campaign will also involve the authorities in Scotland working with service stations, including all Tesco and Shell-owned garages plus others in Dumfries, Abington, Jedburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed, to promote the new limit, due for introduction on December 5.

MSPs at Holyrood will vote today on an order that will bring a reduced limit into effect in time for the festive season.

Under the change, the drink-driving limit will be cut from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml of blood.

Concerns have been raised about people crossing the Border and being over the limit despite having driven legally in England, where it will remain 80mg.

The Scottish Government said the campaign, launched at the start of Road Safety Week, includes TV and radio adverts across Scotland and some areas south of the Border.

There will also be digital and social media campaigns, and ­Scotland-wide awareness- raising events.

Other plans include TV, video-on-demand and radio adverts across Scotland, including ITV Borders, which covers areas in England. The campaign message is "the best advice is none when it comes to drinking and driving".

Scotland-wide events in high-footfall public venues such as supermarkets will be staged, while the Government and police will work with key transport hubs such as Edinburgh airport and car hire companies, as well as tourist organisations.

Information is to be issued through alcohol retailers, national pub companies and groups such as Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Grocer Federation and DrinkAware, while key motoring organisations including the ­Institute of Advanced Motoring, AA, RoSPA and Brake are also on board.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "With the approval of Parliament, the new drink-drive limit will come into force on December 5, making our roads safer and saving lives.

"We are doing everything we can to make sure everyone is informed about the new lower level. A persistent minority of people are still getting behind the wheel after drinking - that is unacceptable, it is putting lives at risk and it must stop. Our advice is simple: the best approach is to have no alcohol at all. Alcohol at any level impairs driving.

"This new law will bring ­Scotland into line with most of Europe and hopefully reduce drink-drive arrests and prosecutions, as we have already seen in the Republic of Ireland, where drivers adjusted their behaviour to take account of the lower limit."

An average of 20 people die on Scotland's roads each year as a result of drink-driving-related collisions. Last year, a further 90 were seriously injured and 340 were slightly injured in such crashes.

Chief Superintendent Iain Murray, head of roads policing for Police Scotland, said: "The new lower limit will reduce those numbers, and the evidence from across Europe where the lower limit applies suggests we will see reductions in drink-driving and blood alcohol counts.

"However, even at the new limit you are three times more likely to die in a crash than if you had taken no alcohol. It is clear, when it comes to drinking and driving, that the simple 'the best advice is none' message is the right one."

Last month it emerged road-safety campaigners have urged police and prosecutors to give softer penalties to some motorists breaching the new limits.