“IT IS JUST not worth the risk.”

The words of Hampshire and Thames Valley road safety sergeant, after police caught three drug drivers in Eastleigh during a Christmas crackdown.

Two men and one woman, all in their twenties, were arrested after testing positive in drugs wipes.

As part of a drink and drug driving operation, Hampshire police situated themselves on Wide Lane, pulling motorists into the Eastleigh Lakeside car park.

One officer was measuring the speed of road users in the 40mph zone, using a speed gun, and the other was checking oncoming traffic for their headlights.

In total they pulled over 84 people, and around 70% of which all had poorly maintained headlights that were either out or dim.

Everyone that was pulled over was cautioned and breathalysed, but no-one was found to be over the legal alcohol limit.

Sergeant Rob Heard, the road safety sergeant for Hampshire said: “Tonight we’ve been running a drink and drug driving operation in Eastleigh.

“Unfortunately we’ve caught three people this evening drug driving, with positive cannabis wipes.

“All three of them have been arrested. One of them was actually uninsured as well, and they’ve all been taken into custody, where blood samples will be taken and analysis will be taken to confirm they over the limit for drugs, which is just a trace amount.

“A very small amount is deemed to be over the limit.

“What people don’t realise with cannabis, is it can stay in your system for quite a long time, and therefore even though you may have stopped smoking cannabis a week beforehand, you may still be over the limit, when it comes to drug driving. We are urging people please do not drink, do not take any drugs and drive. It is just not worth the risk.”

The operation began just after 7pm on Friday, and the first alleged drug driver was pulled over at around 8pm.

The 24-year-old man was originally pulled over for poor front headlights on his Ford Focus, but when officers approached the car they could smell cannabis.

He failed the drug wipe and was arrested, and his two passengers were also searched, before they were allowed to leave. The car was also searched.

The second alleged drug driver was another 24-year-old man, who was driving a BMW. He was pulled over at around 9.15pm, and failed the drugs wipe with traces of cannabis. It was revealed he already had a drink driving conviction.

The final alleged drug driver was a 22-year-old woman, who was pulled over and failed the drug wipe for cannabis. It was also found she had no insurance on the Volkswagen, so it was recovered at the scene.

PC Liz Johnson said: “They’re all from the same generation, and we’ve got the drink driving message across, but they need to understand that if you’re a drug user, then you might as well give up your licence.

“Even just taking cannabis once can keep you over the limit for about three days.”

One taxi driver was caught driving at 51mph and was issued a ticket.