FIRFIGHTERS handed out 'mocktails' to motorists to drive home the message about the dangers of drink-driving.

At the same time county council leaders took the opportunity to explain possible major changes in how local authorities could be organised.

Firefighters offered the alcohol-free cocktails to reinforce road safety advice at the Great Oxfordshire Shake Up event on Tuesday at Rewley Road fire station in Oxford.

The Shake Up event was one of a series run by Oxfordshire County Council to clear up any confusion about which services are run by which councils.

Discussions have been taking place on local government reorganisation, which could mean the district and county councils are dissolved and new unitary councils created.

Cabinet member for local government Nick Carter said: "All this talk of unitaries and local government reorganisation will baffle many people.

"The county council believes that a brand new council for the whole of Oxfordshire would be more simple for residents, deliver better services and would cost less run.

"The Great Oxfordshire Shake Up is a light-hearted way of highlighting a very important point - council services touch the lives of everyone in the county, and changing the way they are run would make a huge difference to residents."

One possibility for reorganisation is three unitary authorities, one for the city, one in the north and one in the south.

Shoppers were invited to test their knowledge of council services and which councils were responsible for providing them.

Shake Up events, from 9.30am to 12 noon, visit the Orchard Centre, Didcot, on Tuesday, June 28, Market Place, Wantage, on Wednesday, June 29, Market Place, Banbury, on Thursday, June 30, Sheep Street, Bicester, on Saturday, July 2, Upper High Street, Thame, Tuesday, July 5, Market Square, Chipping Norton, Wednesday, July 6, and Gloucester Green, Oxford, on Thursday, July 7.