DRINK and drug users are being warned not to get behind the wheel as police launch the annual crackdown on errant motorists.

Sussex Police says in the past two years more than 6,000 drink and drug drivers have been stopped on the county's road.

The force carries out an annual summer and winter campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of driving while over the limit.

Extra patrols will be out to stop drivers putting their own lives and the lives of the public at risk.

In March The Argus revealed how then 29-year-old carpenter Kieron Church had crashed a Peugeot in Pevensey Road, Eastbourne.

Church, of Beauchamp Road, St Leonards had sped at 45mph in a 30mph zone in December last year after drinking five pints earlier in the evening. He was given a suspended prison sentence and a two year ban.

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Chief Inspector Michael Hodder, of the Surrey and Sussex Roads Policing Unit, said: “The consequences of drink and drug-driving are far reaching. Even a small amount of alcohol or substances can massively impair your ability to drive safely, and you increase the risk of seriously injuring or even killing yourself or someone else.

“Imagine being responsible for something like that. Not only have you destroyed the life of that person and their loved ones, you’ve also destroyed your own life."

He said drink or drug driving had caused nearly 300 serious crashes causing death or serious injury in Sussex since October 2017.

The campaign will run from December 1 to January 1.