Grantham drink-driver five times the legal limit gave highest reading in Lincolnshire last year - but number of offences are down

The highest drink-drive reading in Lincolnshire last year was a staggering five times the legal limit, figures have revealed.

While the number of drink driving arrests made in the county in 2024 was the lowest total in the past five years, a large number of those caught were well above a safe limit to be behind the wheel, data released following a freedom of information request shows. The figures have also been released for Rutland.

Figures also reveal which of the county’s seven districts had the highest - and lowest - number of incidents recorded, and the male-female ratio.

Appallingly, the highest reading given by a motorist arrested for drink driving by Lincolnshire Police in 2024 was of 174 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

The legal limit is 35mcg and this reading comes in just 1mcg below being five times the legal limit.

The culprit, 40-year-old Jevegenij Derugo, has since been handed a suspended 12-week jail sentence for the incident, where his Ford Galaxy crashed into a brick wall and street sign on Albert Street, Grantham, just before 2.30am on September 14.

Of those arrested for drink driving in Lincolnshire last year, 86 drivers gave a reading of at least twice the legal limit, 28 at least three times the legal limit and one at least four times the legal limit.

“It remains concerning that after all these years some individuals continue to believe it is safe to drink and drive on our roads,” a Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership statement said.

“Research continues to show that consuming drink or drugs severely adversely impacts both your ability and perceptions when driving.

“Some of the readings that have been found by officers are naturally very concerning and those who choose to ignore the safety of themselves and others quite rightly should expect to be dealt with firmly by the courts.

“There is no excuse for drink or drug driving and putting others at risk.”

A total of 770 drink driving arrests were made by Lincolnshire Police last year.

This is down on the 796 arrests in 2023, a staggering 903 in 2022, 828 in 2021 and 868 in 2020.

Of the drink-driving arrests made, the highest number came in East Lindsey - a stat potentially inflated by revellers over-indulging in the area’s holiday hotspots - while neighbours West Lindsey had the fewest.

There were 178 drink-driving arrests in East Lindsey, 136 in South Kesteven, 115 in the City of Lincoln, 97 in Boston Borough, 82 in North Kesteven, 68 in South Holland and 53 in West Lindsey.

Men accounted for the highest number of drink-drive arrests recorded last year, more than 80%.

In total, 630 of the arrests were male and 124 female.

In 2024 a total of 87 motorists arrested for suspected drink and/or drug-driving refused to give a sample.

Anyone caught drink-driving faces a mandatory ban from the roads.

Some totals in the data do not match that of the total number of arrests. This is because some arrests are made out of force bounds and some logs did not state the areas where an arrest was made.