THE HEAD of road policing in Tayside has warned that officers work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to catch people who drive under the influence of drink or drugs—not just during high profile crackdowns.

Chief Inspector Sandy Bowman was speaking in the wake of a spate of drink- drive offences that have come before the court in Dundee this year.

He said the cases show that drink and drugs drivers faced the threat of being caught at any time of the year, not just during key summer and festive campaigns.

Sheriffs have voiced concern and disappointment recently at both the number of people appearing before them and, in the most recent cases, the “astronomically high” breath-alcohol readings.

Sheriff Richard Davidson said the range of those pleading guilty to driving under the influence of drink—“some a little, some quite substantial”—was worrying.

“At various times throughout the year Tayside Police and our partners run advertising and publicity campaigns to highlight various dangers associated with drink and drugs driving to the public,” said Chief Inspector Bowman.

“The fact these high profile campaigns are launched does not preclude the fact that our officers are giving attention on a daily basis to those drivers that are simply ignoring the law.

“The message we want to get across is that our officers are out there 24 hours a day, seven days a week looking to detect persons that are involved in such irresponsible and anti-social behaviour that put all road users in danger.”

Chief Inspector Bowman also praised members of the public who have a part to play in tackling one of the major factors in serious accidents on the roads.

“Obviously we have an intelligence-led approach to all issues we deal with and drink driving and drug driving is no different,” he said.

“The public has a particularly valuable role to play.

“We don’t want any of our families to be injured as a result of the irresponsible actions of those who are placing themselves and other people in danger.

“People are either contacting ourselves or Crimestoppers to give confidential information in respect of people they suspect are drink-driving or taking drugs and driving.

“We also receive calls from people maybe concerned that a person’s behaviour is such that they believe they may be drinking and driving.

“That’s of great concern to us all and together such information is very valuable and we would encourage that to continue.”

Scotland’s festive road safety campaign saw a total of 750 drivers arrested for drink driving. This marked a drop from the year before, which saw 770 people arrested over the same period.

The number of drug drivers also fell from 31 in the last campaign to 21 this time.