Central Otago police are disappointed at the high number of drink drivers caught in and around Alexandra over the past four days.

Senior Constable Graham Perkins said seven men have been processed for excess breath and blood alcohol levels since Thursday last week.

On May 9, a 20-year-old man was stopped on Brandon St with a reading of 440mcg. He elected for a blood test, which took hours longer to process.

Snr Const Perkins said because of his aggressive nature, Omakau Police were called to assist.

And, while that was happening police also received a call to Fruitlands where a disqualified driver crashed into another vehicle and had an excess breath alcohol level of 508mcg.

Because Alexandra and Omakau officers were busy in Alexandra, Cromwell police had to attend the incident.

On May 10, the rural liaison team stopped seven drivers for speeding, and a 23-year-old man returned a reading of 400mcg after he was pulled into the Millers Flat Tavern.

In Omakau on the same day a 19-year-old Alexandra youth was stopped by police and his excess breath alcohol level was 250mcg (the limit being 0mcg under 20).

On May 11 in Ranfurly, following a rugby game, two men were stopped for drink driving, and both blew 400mcg and were given infringement notices.

Finally, on Sunday night, May 12, a 42-year-old motorist who was seen weaving on the road by a member of the public, was stopped in Fox St, Alexandra, and blew 474mcg. He also opted for a blood alcohol reading at the hospital.

Snr Const Perkins said what people didn’t realise was because alcohol takes a while to metabolise, a blood alcohol reading two to three hours later could actually end up being higher.

The seven drink driving incidents were all from people from different ages and “all walks of life,” and were endangering people’s lives by being on the road, he said.

“Police are out there, anywhere, anytime. Country people die on country roads. Our police are at random spots and are getting results that we don’t want to have. But, we’re getting people off the roads.”