A MAN has been accused of driving with a can of super strength lager balanced on the dashboard.

The driver was stopped on the coast road between Eastbourne and Pevensey Bay on Saturday afternoon.

Police then released the picture of a can of Tennents’ Super lager, which has an alcohol strength of nine per cent. They said they found it in the cup holder.

Police said the man has been charged with being almost double the drink-drive limit, which is 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath.

Sussex Police stopped the man after receiving a tip off about a suspected drunken driver at a nearby retail park.

The Nissan car was tracked down and stopped and the driver, a local man aged in his 60s, was arrested at the scene and taken into custody.

He was charged later that night.

PC Richard Trundle, from the Sussex Roads Policing Unit, said: “It was a busy location and it was thanks to the informant that far more serious consequences were avoided.”

The man was arrested ahead of Sussex Police’s annual summer drink drive campaign, which will start in the next couple of weeks.

Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to head for the county over the coming summer months and The longer evenings and good weather will mean more people are out and about.

Police are advising people to either get a cab or public transport when they go out so they are not tempted to drink and drive.

Alternatively they could appoint a designated driver who will not have any alcohol on the night.

The force ran Operation Dragonfly last summer and throughout December and the Christmas and New Year period, which has led to dozens of convictions.

Sussex Police are reminding people they can text the force on 65999 with the details of anyone they suspect of drink or drug driving.

Alternatively they can call 101 or the anonymous Crimestoppers number 0800 555111.

If anyone feels the situation is urgent and lives are being put at risk, they are advised to call 999.

More details can also be found at operationcrackdown.co.uk

BACKGROUND

Operation Dragonfly aims to prevent avoidable tragedies by discouraging people from taking to the road while they are unfit.

Sussex Police uses drug testing equipment at each custody suite across the county to see if motorists who have been arrested have cannabis in their systems.

Officers also tweet about people stopped on suspicion of drink or drug-driving offences.

Posters are put up at sites across the county where offenders have been stopped as part of the campaign to warn drivers in those areas that they could be caught if they get behind the wheel while over the limit.