Christmas drink-driving awareness and clampdown campaign

A motorist from south Essex is the latest to fall foul of the force’s festive period drink-drive crackdown.

As the police Christmas drink-driving awareness and clampdown campaign gets into full swing, a few miles away at Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park, officers stopped a car at 2am on Sunday, December 2 after it had a defective headlight. The driver, a 19-year-old local man, was arrested after providing a positive roadside breath test and later charged with one count of driving while under the influence of alcohol. He was subsequently released on police bail prior to his appearance at Basildon Magistrates Court on Thursday, December 20.

Officers continue to ask people to help them keep the county’s roads safe by giving them information about motorists who they believe to be drunk behind the wheel. Anyone with such information should contact police by dialling 999 or 101 for those suspected of being regular drink-drivers but who have not yet taken to the roads.