Three held after staff shop drink drive suspects

Three men were spotted getting out of a yellow Fiat Panda car at the St James Retail Park at around 9.20pm on Wednesday. One of them appeared to be staggering as he walked. The three then returned to the car and it drove off in an erratic manner.

Staff from a nearby business also called the police to report their concerns about the manner of driving of a small yellow hatchback car.

Police officers arrived at the scene a few minutes later and found three men with the suspect vehicle. All three denied driving the car and all were subsequently breathalysed at the scene.

The men’s breath test revealed between 87 and 141 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath. All three men were arrested on suspicion of drink driving.

They were also arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft when further checks revealed the car did not belong to them.

One of the men is 22 years old and the other two are 26. They have been released on bail while police enquiries continue.

Roads Policing Inspector Nick Wattam praised the quick actions of the witnesses who reported their concerns to the police. He said: “The public act as the eyes and ears of the police, their information is vital in helping us to prevent and detect crime.

“This incident demonstrates clearly how vigilant members of the public have helped to prevent a potentially serious incident which could have resulted in tragedy.

“Drink driving will not be tolerated on our roads and we hope this encourages more people to report their concerns about drink drivers to the police.”