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Sunday, 1st August 2010

Dozens of drivers facing court after police crackdown

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Published Date:
24 December 2009
As our yearly Steer Clear campaign enters its final week, The News can reveal more than 100 drink-drivers have been caught by police since the start of December.
Hampshire police have been out on the roads stopping vehicles at random and breathalysing thousands of motorists during the past three weeks.

Since December 1, 159 drivers have been arrested, of whom 113 were charged.

There have been 42 arrest
s in the 'Central' area, which covers Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Waterlooville.

And 20 arrests have been made in Portsmouth, including 26-year-old Alexis Noble from Gosport who was caught in Port Solent while four times the legal limit, as reported in The News yesterday.

The number of people caught drink-driving in December this year appears to have fallen sharply compared with last year when 297 were arrested.

Insp Beth Pirie, of Cosham Roads Policing Unit, said: 'The amount of drivers we have arrested has gone down this year. I think that is down to promotion and our high visible presence.

'The message is out there, very loud and clear, but you're always going to have those who think they haven't had that much to drink and are OK to drive and other drivers who have total disregard for the law.'

December is traditionally the busiest month for police dealing with drink-drivers and a new text message scheme was launched for the public to shop suspects. Police say the text service has been a success and has helped catch some of those arrested.

Insp Pirie: 'We've had some positive results and had some people arrested as a result of the text messages.

'We're going to keep up the pressure right until the end of January.

'Some areas have seen a lot more arrests than others, especially in central Hampshire. Portsmouth has been lower, maybe because it has closer transport links and is smaller so taxis cost less.

'But it could be The News' Steer Clear campaign that's helped us have such success this year in getting through to people.'

Our Steer Clear campaign runs throughout December - including New Year's Eve.

It calls on landlords to provide designated drivers with free soft drinks in a bid to cut the number of motorists who are over the limit on our roads. It has the backing of more than 40 pubs this year.

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  • Last Updated: 24 December 2009 7:08 AM
  • Source: The News
  • Location: Portsmouth
 
 
 


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