A DOZEN Merseyside and Cheshire police officers were caught flaunting the drink-drive alcohol limit in the past three years, a Daily Post investigation has found.

All but one of them turned in their badges either ahead of disciplinary hearings or were asked to by misconduct investigators.

The figures were last night described as “shocking” by a drivers’ lobby group.

Hugh Bladan, a founder member of the Association of British Drivers, said: “Absolutely nobody should be caught drinking and driving. Obviously when it comes to police officers, it’s even more important.

“We expect them to obey the law because they make us obey the law. It’s fairly shocking that any police officer is caught over the drink drive limit anytime, anywhere.”

Between 2005 and 2007, nine Merseyside officers were caught drink driving – two in 2005, three in 2006 and four in 2007, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal.

In Cheshire, one officer per year was convicted of driving over the limit since 2005.

All three Cheshire officers resigned ahead of disciplinary hearings.

In Merseyside, eight of their drink drivers resigned either before hearings or under compulsion. A spokesperson said one case is yet to conclude.

The spokesperson added: “This force takes an extremely tough stance against drink-driving.

“We have robust processes in place to deal with any officer, or member of staff, caught drink-driving. The highest level of integrity is expected from our officers and staff and that includes when they are off-duty.

“No officer convicted of a drink- driving offence in the last decade remains with Merseyside Police.”

The force added that any officer convicted of a drink-drive offence should expect to face a misconduct panel.

In all recent cases, officers have lost their jobs after a drink-drive conviction.

Cheshire Police were unavailable for comment.

Both Cheshire and Merseyside forces said they were not legally obliged to hold information on how many times officers provided negative results in drink-driving tests.

It is known that two Merseyside officers had to provide blood tests to assess if they had been driving under the influence.

Lee Murphy, manager of Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership, said: “Drink-driving is a very serious offence. We would advocate that people do not drink and drive.

“Drink-driving is taken very seriously in Cheshire and all our partners work hard to get people to take responsibility for their actions, regardless of their occupation.”

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