DRIVERS have been warned about driving under the influence of drugs as police reveal they are carrying out stop checks.

Northumbria Police has revealed they have received funding from Newcastle City Council and Gateshead Council to purchase hundreds of new portable drug testing kits.

The equipment enables them to test drivers on the roadside and get immediate results telling them whether or not the driver is under the influence.

Traffic officers have been using the equipment since the new drug driving laws were introduced.

But now Special Constables will be carrying out stop checks in Newcastle city centre and Gateshead town centre to make sure nobody is putting lives at risk.

They will also be testing taxi drivers operating in the city to ensure they are not putting innocent lives at risk by driving while high on drugs.

Operation Beacon has already been running for two weeks and more than a hundred vehicles have been stopped.

One driver was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs while dozens more were dealt with for potentially dangerous vehicle defects.

Sergeant Pinner Rana, of the Northumbria Police Motor Patrols Department, said: “Drug driving puts lives at risk and there is absolutely no excuse for it.”