A police dog has been praised after tracking down a drink driver who ran and hid from officers.

PD Copper, a two-year-old German Shepherd, was brought in after Niles Birkett, 23, refused to put out a cigarette and ran into undergrowth in Eastbourne.

The German Shepherd was able to track down the driver near Twin Oaks Drive where he was arrested on suspicion of driving while unfit through drink or drugs.

Sussex Police PC Esme Jeal, who was called in alongside PD Copper said: “PD Copper was asked to search for the suspect through difficult terrain after he had ran away from the police.

“He located the suspect, and we were able to arrest him and take him back to custody.”

Birkett, a delivery driver, is said to have stopped his Peugeot on the dual carriageway in Golden Jubilee Way in Eastbourne on August 29, 2022, at around 2am to let a passenger go to the toilet by the roadside.

Officers stopped after finding his car with a defective rear light and after stopping him a second time suspected he was under the influence of drink or drugs.

Following the incident Birkett appeared at Hastings Magistrates’ Court charged with failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis when suspected of driving while unfit through drink or drugs.

Birkett, of Harepit Close in South Croydon, at one stage lay flat on the floor and refused to comply with officers rather than provide a breath specimen.

He admitted the charge and was disqualified from driving for 20 months, as well as being ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and paying over £200 in victim surcharges and costs.

Sussex Police say that they are highlighting the case as part of a campaign to tackle drink driving in the county.

The force had previously named and shamed a number of drivers arrested in December on drink and drug driving charges.

Statistics from the police show that over 200 motorists were arrested for drink or drug driving offences in Sussex in December.