ANYBODY caught with more than 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath will be arrested.

If the breathalyser reads between 35 and 40, a warning is given, but anybody blowing over 40 will face prosecution.

Experts at Drink Aware, which offers guidance on alcohol consumption, said there was no fool-proof way of determining how long it would take an individual’s body to get rid of a unit.

It depends on factors including weight, gender, metabolism, stress levels, the amount eaten and age.

Younger people and women tend to process alcohol more slowly.

One unit is 10ml of pure alcohol. A pint of standard lager is equivalent to 2.3 units and a large 250ml glass of wine is three.

It takes the average adult around an hour to process this so that there is none left in their bloodstream, although this varies from person to person.

Alcohol affects driving because it makes the brain take longer to receive messages from the eye, processing information becomes more difficult and instructions to the body’s muscles are delayed.

Sgt Pearson said those drinking under the influence of alcohol were taking a huge risk.

She said: “You are looking at losing your license and quite often your job, or even your life.”