ESSEX Police has released the results of its December 2025 road safety campaign, Operation Limit, which targeted drink and drug drivers across the county.

The force says the figures reveal a concerning trend and underline the force's commitment to tackling impaired driving.

In total, the operation netted 511 drink and drug drive related offences in one month.

Adam Pipe, Head of Roads Policing at Essex Police, described drug driving as an "epidemic" and the biggest challenge facing road safety today:

He says: "The number of arrests is staggering and highlights a significant risk on our roads, something that the force will continue to focus on throughout the coming year.

"We'll be using all the resources necessary to prioritise road safety for all and reduce the number of killed and seriously injured on our roads."

The force's specialist Roads Policing Unit led the campaign, conducting five dedicated days of action at targeted sites alongside daily patrols, resulting in 103 drink driving arrests which takes our 2025 annual figure to 1,008.

Police check motorists during Operation Limit.

307 arrests were made for drug driving in December 2025, the highest number of arrests since January 2017 and takes the annual figure to 1,874 arrests.

Additionally, last year there were an extra 936 other drivers arrested because they were either unfit to drive or failed to provide a specimen for analysis, of which 101 were arrested as part of last month's Operation Limit.

Mr Pipe added: "The use of drugs and driving is clearly a matter of significant concern as we are increasingly finding a bigger proportion of impaired driving due to recreational drugs.

We still see the presence of the "traditional" drugs of cocaine and cannabis, but increasingly there's a whole new range of different drugs, such as ketamine, being used and abused.

Any controlled substance misuse will impair your driving ability and judgement, but it is also a health risk.

To combat this trend, officers are being trained in field impairment testing, such as assessing balance and coordination, to identify drink or drug-impaired drivers. This proactive approach will continue throughout 2026 and we'll continue this level of enforcement, taking every opportunity to remove drug drivers from our roads.

The figures coincide with the Department for Transport's launch of a new Road Safety Strategy (7 January) which proposes measures to reduce the alcohol limit for driving from 35 micrograms (µg) of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of breath down to 22 in England alongside interim disqualification for those who test positive for drugs and more restrictions on young and inexperienced drivers.

Analysis of December 2025's figures revealed 1 in 3 drink or drug drivers had previous arrests for a variety of offences with the three busiest nights for arrests on Saturday 6, 13 and 20 December - especially in the city areas of Colchester, Chelmsford and Southend.

An Op Limit drug test

The figures coincide with the Department for Transport's launch of a new Road Safety Strategy (7 January) which proposes measures to reduce the alcohol limit for driving from 35 micrograms (µg) of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of breath down to 22 in England alongside interim disqualification for those who test positive for drugs and more restrictions on young and inexperienced drivers.

Analysis of December 2025's figures revealed 1 in 3 drink or drug drivers had previous arrests for a variety of offences with the three busiest nights for arrests on Saturday 6, 13 and 20 December.

Some of the arrests made:

• A drug driver found with a knuckleduster.

• A provisional licence holder driver of a car with four other occupants, including a child, was arrested for drug driving and had no insurance or MOT.

• A drunk driver found travelling the wrong way around a roundabout was arrested.

• A drug driver was arrested in possession of drugs found inside his vehicle.

• When officers were called to an unattended broken-down vehicle, the driver turned up with a petrol can, expecting to drive off. Instead, he was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.

• A disqualified driver in a cloned van was arrested for drug driving and the van was seized.

• A driver stopped for speeding was arrested after being found to be over the drug drive limit.

Mr Pipe emphasised that enforcement is only part of the solution, saying: "Taking someone off the road is sometimes just the first step in a longer process. Initially we do it to remove the risk on our roads, but in the case of drug and alcohol dependency and the potential for domestic abuse in their personal relationships, we link in with partner agencies as a holistic approach to the problem. Some people just need a little bit of extra help."

He urged the public to support Essex Police's efforts, adding: "As a society we should reflect on the harm that this is causing us all. December's operation may be over, but our work hasn't ended."