TWO suspected drink-drivers were arrested during a recent road safety operation in the Yorkshire Dales.

Officers from North Yorkshire Police’s Operation Anvil team arrested a 37-year-old man on suspicion of driving while over the prescribed limit in the Long Street area of Thirsk on Friday (24 July). He had two children as passengers, was driving without wearing a seatbelt and had no insurance.

A 26-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of drunk-driving when he was stopped, using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology, near the Dalton Industrial Estate. He was not insured and had no license.

The joint operation with the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and HM Revenue and Customs, supported by the 95 Alive York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, saw a total of 66 vehicles stopped and a number of penalty notices issued including:

• Four VOSA Immediate Prohibition Notices (the vehicle must be kept off the road until problems have been fixed)
• Five VOSA Delayed Prohibition Notices (the vehicle must be taken off the road within the next 10 days)
• Five Fixed Penalty Tickets for driving without wearing a seatbelt
• Two Fixed Penalty Tickets for driving whilst using a hand-held mobile phone while driving
• One Fixed Penalty Ticket for driving with illegally tinted windows
• One Fixed Penalty Ticket for driving without tax
• One Fixed Penalty Ticket for carrying an overweight load

Traffic Constable Dave Burlingham was pleased with the results of the operation and vowed to continue the clampdown on drivers who break the law.

He said: “We are determined to make the county’s roads a safer place to be and hopefully the success of our road safety operations will get the message across to unlawful drivers.

“We will not tolerate the actions of people who put the safety of other road users at risk, particularly drink drivers.

“Operation Anvil aims to reduce the number of casualties on our roads and we will continue to deal strongly with people found to be breaking the law.

“We will continue our operations in this area as we strive to make our roads safer, improve vehicle and driver standards and ultimately save lives.”