Erratic driving on Bourges Boulevard and crashing into a garden on Norman Road - Peterborough drink drivers lose licences over new year

Calls to Cambridgeshire Police’s drink drive hotline nearly trebled over the Christmas period.

More than 80 suspected drink drivers were arrested in the county in December 2022. In December 2021, there were 69 people arrested.

Police have revealed why some of those drivers were stopped over Christmas – and have spoken of the importance of their hotline number, which allows residents to confidentially report drink drivers in the county.

There were five calls in November 2022 compared to 13 calls in December.

The hotline: 0800 032 0845 is available 24/7.

PC Nick Southern, Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s casualty reduction officer, said: “It is great to see calls to our confidential hotline increased in December, compared to 2021, and we would like to thank people for helping us make the roads of Cambridgeshire safer for everyone. Remember, one call really could save a life.

“But our hotline is for life, not just for Christmas. Calls can be made throughout the year and at any time of day or night, so we would encourage others to help us spread the word – whether that’s saving the number in your own phone or sharing it with others.”

Cambridgeshire Police said one woman, aged 33, was given a year ban from driving after being spotted driving erratically on Bourges Boulevard on December 30. She gave a roadside breathalyzer reading of 59ugs of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the legal limit is 35ugs. Along with the ban, she was fined £120.

Officers said another drink driver to get a ban was a 29-year-old man who drove his car into the front garden of a house in Norman Road on 1 January. Officers suspected he had been drinking and he blew 69ugs on a roadside breath test. He was disqualified from driving for 16 months and fined £634.

And a 40-year-old man who was seen driving his car forwards and backwards and attempting to turn around in Thorpe Meadows on 1 January was given a suspended sentence after he gave a roadside breath test of 117ugs.

He appeared in court and was sentenced to eight weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, disqualified from driving for 30 months, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.