A FORMER Dorset Police special constable was caught over the limit on the second day of the annual drink drive campaign.

Andrew Stephen Rose, 29, of Dorchester Road, Lytchett Minster, worked as a special constable for the force for five years, at one time serving as deputy section officer sergeant.

He appeared before Bournemouth Magistrates on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to driving a Rover car along West Quay Road in Poole at 7.05pm on June 2 this year while over the legal limit – nine days after he left the force.

Louise Holmes, prosecuting, said: “Officers had cause to stop the vehicle the defendant was driving due to the manner of his driving.

“As a result he failed the roadside breath test. He was taken to the police station where he provided a statutory blood reading of 107mg per 100ml of blood – the limit being 80mg.”

Robert Renshaw, mitigating, said: “On this particular evening he went out with friends. He decided to convey two of them. As they were visitors to the area he drove slowly across the lifting bridge in Poole. That caught the interest of a passing police officer and he was stopped.”

Rose, who works as a customer relationship manager for Health-on-Line, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay fines totalling £602.

He agreed to complete a drink drive rehabilitation course. Dorset Police said it would be inappropriate to comment.

Campaign a success

Dorset Police officers arrested 101 drivers on the county’s roads and gave breath tests to 707 during its annual drink drive summer campaign.

Between June 1-30 officers conducted checks including early morning checks undertaken by both marked and unmarked police patrols.

Drivers involved in road traffic collisions were automatically breath tested during the campaign.

Of those arrested, 22 came after road traffic collisions.

Dorset Police Traffic Inspector, Matt Butler, said after the initiative: “We will continue to target those who put their lives and others at risk by drink driving.

“More than 20 per cent of arrests came after collisions which shows how dangerous drink driving is.

“There is no safe limit, so anytime that you are going out for a drink you need to plan how to get home without driving yourself.”

Drink drivers should be reported by calling police on 101.