POLICE blocked off Wisbech from both ends last night during a massive drink drive clamp down.

Dozens of motorists were heading into or out of town via either the Lynn Road or Cromwell Road found a team of police officers pulling them over for spot checks.

I joined a late evening team of around eight to nine officers on Lynn Road and was impressed that despite numerous checks not one person failed the breathalyser test.

Some may think it is scary to see so many police by the roadside but overall I felt it re-assuring. I’m on the road every day and the thought that others may be on the same roads having tanked up with alcohol is a concern so warnings such as this are useful.

Catching up with the squad of police- even though they asked us along earlier- was not as simple as I thought it would be. It took several calls and a couple of disappointments before they finally called me to join them at 9.30pm.

Earlier at Wisbech Police Station I had turned up with a photographer from a Portuguese newspaper but I never did get to find out what happened to him or where he went for the evening. I went home till the call came!

Also out on the streets with us last night was a BBC film crew, making a documentary about the work of police ‘specials’. They focused heavily on Sgt Mike Diplock, a special sergeant from Cambs Police, whose charm and tact was much in evidence during the blitz on drivers.

Motorists were pulled over, asked if they had been drinking, and confirmation led to them being asked to take a breath test. Quite why the number of women being tested outnumbered men three to one I’m not sure. Perhaps they are more honest!

I read later that police had been out in Peterborough stopping motorists at 7am- now that is scary having to remember what you had the night before and whether the drink might have left or remained in your system.

It’s fair to point out though that not one motorist I encountered last night objected to police stopping them- perhaps the message might finally have sunk in.