ALMOST 100 people have been convicted for drink and drug-driving during the Christmas period and even more have been arrested.

A total of 240 motorists were arrested in Sussex as part of the Surrey and Sussex Police crackdown on dangerous driving, which ran from December 1 2018 to January 1 2019.

Of those arrested 95 have since been convicted in court and another nine have been charged. The remaining 131 have either been released under investigation or released without charge.

James Scott, 27, unemployed, of Abinger Road, Portslade, is one of the most recent drivers to have been convicted.

He was arrested in Marine Parade, Brighton, on 4 December and charged with driving with 7mcg of cannabis per litre of blood in his system.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on March 28, he was banned from driving for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay a £120 fine, £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Cheryle Haffenden, 47, unemployed, of Blackman Avenue, St Leonards, was arrested in Saxon Street, St Leonards, on December 1 and charged with driving with 23mcg of cocaine and more than 800mcg of benzoylecgonine (the main metabolite of cocaine) per litre of blood in her system. The legal limits are 10mcg and 50mcg respectively.

At Hastings Magistrates’ Court on 3 April, she was banned from driving for a year and was also ordered to pay a £120 fine, £50 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Frankie Parker, 41, an undertaker, of Lockwood Crescent, Brighton, was arrested in Stanstead Crescent, Brighton, on December 10 and charged with driving with 83mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in her system.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 8 April, she was disqualified from driving for 20 months. She was also ordered to pay a £120 fine, £150 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Sandu Cirpaci, 25, a driver, of Moyne Road, Crawley, was arrested in High Street, Crawley, on New Year’s Day and charged with “failing to provide a specimen of breath when suspected of having driven a vehicle”.

At Horsham Magistrates’ Court on March 18 he was disqualified from driving for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay a £108 fine, £300 costs and a £30 victim surcharge. Sussex Police said it would publish details of people convicted on their website.