MOTORISTS were stopped at a checkpoint in Bolton on the second day of a Christmas crackdown on drink/drug drivers.

Cars, vans and taxis were identified by a police spotter in Blackburn Road and directed into a holding area in Waters Meeting Road in Astley Bridge from 6.30am on Friday — inadvertently causing tailbacks southbound all the way back up to Bromley Cross.

Traffic officers who conducted roadside breath tests and the relatively new saliva tests were bolstered by four Special Constables and an inspector from VOSA looking for mechanical defects and examining tyres, brake pads and wheels.

Inspector Paul Rowe, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, who led the operation, said: “This is one of the early morning checks in relation to drink-driving and drugs.

“People we have been pulling in have been driving with a light out or not wearing a seatbelt or using a mobile phone.

“We have had three people in commercial vehicles with the wrong insurance – personal insurance and no business insurance – and those vehicles have been seized.”

Thirty-one motorists took part in a breath test and one failed a saliva test for cocaine and was arrested.

One of the key messages of the None For The Road campaign is the danger drivers pose by getting behind the wheel the day after a boozy evening.

Insp Rowe said: “We are concerned about the number of people that believe they can drive the morning after the night before and this issue becomes more prominent the nearer we get to Christmas.

“We had a reading of 24mcg in 100mcg of breath this morning which is below the legal limit of 33mcg.

“It was a shock to the driver. He had been out last night and was amazed because he was expecting a zero result.

“He said he was OK as he had had a sleep. We told him to go and have a coffee.”

The crackdown comes ahead of a toughening of penalties for driving while using a mobile telephone, a behaviour the force’s Chief Constable Ian Hopkins has compared to drink-driving.

Insp Rowe said: “I can’t believe people are still doing it. It’s become as acceptable to use your mobile phone while driving as drink-driving was in the 1970s.”

Besides high profile checkpoints, overt and covert patrols will be taking place throughout Greater Manchester alongside promotional campaigns to reinforce the message.

Insp Rowe said: “We have got extra officers out dedicated to this None For The Road campaign and they’re equipped with breath machines and drug screening machines.They will be patrolling within the Greater Manchester area and that’s both in the morning and during the evening and includes the early morning.

“They will be looking for signs: weaving about the road, slow speed and going too fast. And if you’re driving with a light out expected to be stopped.”

One of those pulled over for the wrong type of insurance was van driver John.

He said: “I don’t drink at all but I spend a lot of my time on the roads of Bolton and I have seen a lot of accidents and very often they are drink-related. I’m a 100 per cent in favour of drink-driving campaigns.

“It needs as much policing team as they can spare for it.”