A total of 100 taxi and private hire drivers have been arrested for drink or drug driving offence on

Merseyside has seen a 100th taxi or private hire driver arrested for drink or drug driving on in less than a year. Merseyside's police tweeted on social media yesterday that the "unfortunate milestone" had been reached, tweeting out an image of a vehicle stopped at the side of the road.
The tweet, sent out from the Roads Policing Unit account, said: "Unfortunate milestone today! This is the 100th licensed driver arrested for drink (8) or Drug (92) drive since May!"
In the post the RPU said a total of 48 of those had been Liverpool drivers, 33 from Sefton , 14 from Knowsley and five from other regions.

(Image:Twitter)
They added: "We will carry on working hard to support the majority of legal drivers in the trade." The news follows on from previous tweets of a number of arrests made during a new scheme called Operation Nemesis which focused on roadside checks of taxi and private hire drivers.
The leading Inspector said:"All motorists have a duty of care to themselves, those they are travelling with and other road users which is why it is particularly important that taxi drivers and private hire companies consider the risks they may be putting themselves and others in if they’re found to be driving whilst using drugs."
Taxipoint recently reported on the news that Merseyside's taxi and private hire drivers could all face mandatory new drug tests when they try and renew their licence.

(Private hire driver stopped and arrested for drug-driving offences)
The new proposals were highlighted in a report from police and crime commissioner Jane Kennedy's office following the worrying number of arrests of taxi and private hire drivers operating under the influence of drugs.
Ms Kennedy met with council leaders and the metro mayor earlier this month to try and push the idea forward and now the new report will now be discussed next week

(Hackney carriage driver stopped and arrested for drug-driving offences)
The document says: "Following a huge increase in the number of taxi drivers being arrested for drug driving offences, last April the Commissioner took the issue of ‘drug testing’ for taxi drivers to the authority, advising that she would like to see a standardised approach to drug testing implemented across the region. "This would mean that all prospective taxi drivers and those seeking to renew their licenses would be subject to a mandatory drug test."