Cambridgeshire police remain hopeful – but not confident – of drink drive figures not topping the 771 arrests they made in 2021.
And they appealed “as a last resort” for the public to report suspected drink drivers on a confidential hotline.
Between January to November, Cambridgeshire police made 729 drink and drug driving related arrests “with the last month of 2022 still to go”.
A police spokesperson said: “We’re supporting a new national campaign by Sussex Police and Surrey Police calling on the public and friends of drink drivers to prevent, persuade and – as a last resort – report drink drivers to us this festive season.
“You can call 0800 032 0845, our confidential 24/7 hotline, whenever you need to. Read the full story on our website: https://orlo.uk/mrVQk .
In the latest case brought before magistrates a man who was pulled over for having a headlight out was found to be more than double the legal drink drive limit.
Ionut Petre, 24, was driving a Volkswagen Sharan with a defective headlight in Serjeant Street, Peterborough, in the early hours of 29 November.
This caught the eye of officers in a patrol car, who followed before pulling him over in Harris Street.
Petre smelt strongly of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet when asked to step out of the vehicle.
He was breathalysed and gave a reading of 98 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – more than double the legal limit of 35.
He was also found to be disqualified from driving and not insured.
Petre, of Harris Street, Peterborough, appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on November 30 where he was sentenced to eight weeks in prison and disqualified from driving for three years.
PC Shaz Ali, who investigated, said: “We cannot be everywhere, but this case highlights we could be anywhere, and even something seemingly unrelated like a defective headlight can make a drink driver stand out.
“Drink driving is one of the fatal five causes of collisions on our roads and if Petre wasn’t stopped, the consequences of his actions could have been very serious.”
