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Thanks to calls from the public, a drunk driver on the M25, heading in the wrong direction, has been jailed.
In the early hours of Wednesday 21 February, Essex Police’s Force Control Room received multiple 999 calls from the public to alert them to a car travelling in the wrong direction of the M25.
Roads Policing officers were deployed to the area and located a white van driving the wrong way from Brook Street roundabout, heading towards the M11 junction.
Officers stopped the van and arrested the driver for dangerous driving.
When breathalysed at the roadside, the driver was twice the legal drink drive limit.
During interview at Grays Police Station, the driver admitted he was driving in the wrong direction because the road closure on the B track, the side of the road he should have been on, meant he was running out of fuel.
Jake Port, 35, of Whalebone Lane North, Romford, was charged with dangerous driving and drink driving and was remanded into custody to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court the following day.
He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday 23 July. He was fined £200 and disqualified from driving for 2 years and 8 months.
PC Dale Barnes, Roads Policing officer, said:
Having this level of alcohol in your system means you may think you are a competent driver, but your reactions and judgement are impaired.
This is a dangerous combination.
We’re very grateful to the motorists who called 999 that night to ensure that other motorists weren’t put further at risk by Port’s actions, and to bring the incident to a stop.
Frankly, Port is fortunate that a serious collision didn’t happen.
Our Roads Policing Unit officers are dedicated to keeping roads in Essex safe and they work with Vision Zero partners to achieve our ambition of no road deaths by 2040 or sooner.
Help us reduce road collisions and casualties in Essex and make our roads even safer. Report instances of poor and dangerous driving through Safer Essex Roads Partnership's Extra Eyes initiative.
More than ever, irresponsible, dangerous and illegal road behaviour is being recorded by road users. Through Extra Eyes this footage can be sent to, and reviewed by, an investigator within Road Policing at Essex Police.
Find out how by visiting Safer Essex Roads Partnership website.
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