Police launch text service to report drink-drivers
People are being asked to report their friends and relatives for drink-driving by texting their vehicle details to Lincolnshire Police.
The force has launched a text service for people to send information about habitual drink-drivers, which is then used for intelligence gathering.
Road safety charity Brake believes the service may be the first of its kind.
Emergency cases, such as when a drunk person sets off in their car, should still be reported by calling 999.
John Siddle, from Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, said: "We believe that there are a lot of people out there that know of a neighbour, friend or relative that does this habitually.
"We want to make sure that those people are stopped."
'Very new idea'
People should text the word "DRINK" to 80800 with details of the vehicle, and when and where the person will be drinking. The driver's name is not necessary.
"If somebody knows of somebody that's always down the pub on a Thursday night, and always drives their car home, and nothing seems to be getting done about it, then that text service is for that," said Mr Siddle.
Police will then use the information to catch people driving while they are drunk.
Laura Woods, from Brake, said the text service was a good idea.
"It has always been possible to report somebody who is drink-driving to the police, but this idea of making it very simple and having a number to text is, as far as I'm aware, a very new idea," she said.