POLICE in County Durham may have been the first in the country to use a change to the drink-drive laws which only came into effect after midnight.

At 12.45am this morning (Friday, April 10) officers stopped a Rover 75 car as it travelled along a road in Willington, County Durham.

After providing a positive roadside breath test he gave an evidential reading at the police station of 44 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath, the legal limit is 35.

Previously, drivers giving a positive reading had the statutory option of providing a blood or urine sample taken by a recognised health care professional at police expense.

The results would then be sent to a laboratory for analysis, a process which could take several weeks, during which time the suspect would be on bail and still allowed to drive.

At one minute past midnight that option was removed, allowing police to bring charges based on the readings from the evidential test.

The driver who was stopped, a 42-year-old man from Willington, was charged within 90 minutes of his arrest.

He will appear before South Durham magistrates, at Newton Aycliffe, on Wednesday, April 29.

Inspector Ed Turner, from the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, said: “We believe this to be the first arrest and charge following the change to the legislation.

“The new procedures will save a considerable amount of time and money and ensure suspected drink-drivers will go to court far quicker than before.”