400 drivers off road in drink and drugs blitz

Police and licence enforcement agencies carry out Operation Considerate outside Oldham fire station on Lees Road. Vehicles were stopped for a variety of offences, including driving without insurance and driving while putting on make-up. Pic shows cars being seized for having no insurance.

MORE than 400 drink and drug drivers were taken off the roads in December as part of Greater Manchester Police’s Christmas operation.

Officers arrested 324 drink drivers and 80 drug drivers between December 1 and New Year’s Day, compared to 273 drink drivers and 44 drug drivers arrested at Christmas 2014/15 — an increase of 21 per cent.

The number of people arrested for driving while under the influence of drugs almost doubled, something officers attribute to the introduction of new legislation and roadside drug testing kits that enable officers to check for cannabis and cocaine using a swab of saliva. Of the 404 people arrested, 142 tested positive following a collision.