THE number of drink and drug drivers snared during a police campaign has spiked.

As part of a joint summer drink and drug drive campaign, Hampshire Constabulary and Thames Valley Police have seen a 37 per cent rise in the number of drivers arrested for drug driving and a 25 per cent increase in the number arrested for drink driving, compared to last year.

This year, out 3,219 drivers breath tested, 394 drivers failed, up from 316 in 2017, and 151 drug drivers arrested, compared to 110 in 2017.

Overall, 3,327 drivers were tested overall during the month-long campaign that ran from the June 14 to July 15, resulting in a total of 536 arrests.

Stop and roadside checks were conducted in both mornings and evenings with drivers asked to provide a voluntary breath test.

Hampshire and Thames Valley’s Road Safety Sergeant Rob Heard, said: “We made it clear to drivers that we would be stepping up our enforcement for drink and drug driving and warn them against the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“We also shared the personal tragedy of Karen Marchant, who lost her daughter to a drink driver in the hope that it would deter others from taking that risk.

"Sadly, there are still a significant number of people that think it’s acceptable to get behind the wheel of a vehicle after consuming alcohol and/or drugs, risking their own life and other innocent people’s lives.”

“I do not believe we have more drug drivers on the road, but simply the equipment has allowed us to detect them more easily. Over the last two years we have started using drug testing equipment more and more, with all roads policing officers carrying the drug analysers which they can use when they have a suspicion someone maybe driving under the influence of a drug.

Of the 394 drivers to fail a breath test, 94 had been involved in a collision and 81 per cent were male. The highest age group for failing a breath test were the under 25s at 14.6 per cent.

Of the drug driving arrests, 94 per cent were male and 16 had been involved in a collision.

He added: “These people caught will now face the consequences of their thoughtless, selfish actions.”