Gwent Police have confirmed they have checked almost 100 vehicles and made six arrests as part of a national campaign raising awareness around the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

As reported in the Chronicle two weeks ago, motorists who put others at risk have bee targeted by police as part of a two-week operation on road safety.

Operation Utah is designed to identify and tackle motorists putting others at risk – either by driving illegally or by driving vehicles not up to a safe standard.

During the campaign officers from the force’s roads policing and specialist operations (RPSO), rural crime, neighbourhood policing team have been patrolling Gwent road networks, carrying out vehicle and driver checks and delivering a number of educational messages centred around increasing road safety.

The latest Utah operations took place on Sunday 21 and Monday 22 August at the Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency (DVSA) weighbridge and test site at Newport’s Coldra roundabout.

Officers teamed up with partners from the DVSA, Go Safe, The National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service and The Equipment Register (TER).

Throughout the two days, the operation saw 98 vehicles stopped, six arrests on suspicion of drug driving, 60 traffic offences reported and one stolen vehicle recovered.

Speaking about the campaign and recent operation, Superintendent Mike Richards said:

“While most motorists drive within the law, some selfishly put motorists and pedestrians at risk by driving after drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

“It’s completely unacceptable.

‘‘Our officers have had to respond to 19 fatal road traffic collisions over the last twelve months, and, consequently, had to visit parents, siblings and friends to tell them the awful news that their loved one(s) had died.

‘‘Throughout our campaigns, and year-round, our roads policing officers, family liaison officers (FLOs) and more are joining emergency service partners in reiterating one simple message: do not risk your life and the lives of others by driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“It’s one of the biggest causes of death on our roads and these campaigns are important in making our roads safer and raising awareness around the consequences of driving under the influence.

“Nobody wants to be the cause of a major collision, let alone be the reason a family is told by one of our officers that they’ve lost a loved one.”