Almost 70 people were caught by police driving under the influence of drink or drugs as part of an intensive week of action.

This included a care worker, who was stopped in Fulwood, Preston, and found to be under the influence of cannabis. A cared-for child was a passenger in the car at the time.

The care worker was one of 66 people who were caught driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or refused to give a breath sample for testing.

This was part of a countywide intensive week of action against impaired driving.

Among the 66 offenders was a man caught after crashing into a stationary vehicle in Walmer Bridge. He later told officers he had nipped out in his girlfriend’s car to buy more beer.

The driver was found at the roadside to be four times the legal limit for alcohol.

Police also caught a man who drove drunk all the way from Longridge to Wesham with two children in the car.

And officers stopped a motorist who was seen driving erratically up the M6, including along the hard shoulder. He was eventually stopped in Lancaster and found to be almost three times the legal limit for alcohol.

One driver who was reaching speeds of up to 130mph on the M55 was found to be twice the legal limit for alcohol.

Insp Rob Conolly-Perch, of the Lancashire Police TacOps team, said: “This week of action was entirely intelligence-led, with officers targeting people reported to be regularly drink or drug-driving.

 “Shockingly, a total of 66 people we stopped were indeed found to be over the legal limit for alcohol or drugs – all of them putting themselves and others in danger of serious injury or even death.

 “What we’d like to stress is that we stopped many, many more drivers who were only just under the legal limit and those people – and the rest we still have on our list – will continue to be targeted and will eventually be caught.

 “The consequences of drink or drug-driving are never worth it and it’s something we take extremely seriously in Lancashire.”

To report your suspicions about a drink or drug-driver, call 101 or 999 for an immediate incident or where a life is in danger. You can also report it online at doitonline.lancashire.uk.