There may only be about nine miles of paved roads on the Isles of Scilly, but the islands’ police have been forced to issue a warning that drink-driving is just as unacceptable as on the mainland – even for those in control of unconventional motor vehicles.
The warning came following the arrests of two men who were spotted driving golf buggies – a common mode of transport on Scilly – in an erratic manner. Sgt Colin Taylor, who patrols the islands by foot, boat and in his Land Rover, stopped the men and gave them roadside breath tests.
Taylor said the arrests showed that the drink-drive rules apply to buggies, quad bikes and all other motor vehicles. There have been 11 arrests in connection with drink-driving in Scilly, an archipelago off the south-west tip of Cornwall, over the past 18 months.
In typically quirky fashion, Taylor, who has a cult following on social media, suggested on his Facebook page that motorists may be inspired by the 70s group Mungo Jerry, whose big hit In the Summertime includes the lyrics: “Have a drink, have a drive / Go out and see what you can find”. Taylor wrote: “Regrettably motorists are still taking their advice.”
Taylor said the two men, both visitors to the islands, were bailed to appear next month in Exeter, by which time the results of blood tests will be known.
Scilly is often dubbed the “land that crime forgot” – though Taylor and his team have been relatively busy this summer. In July, there was another golf buggy incident in which a man went to the tiny police station on the archipelago’s main island of St Mary’s concerned that a parking ticket had been slapped on his hired golf-style buggy.
Officers assured him he had been parked legally and the ticket was the work of a fraudster. Police warned they considered the ticket a possible act of malicious communication, an offence carrying a maximum of six months in jail.
The following month road issues were again at the forefront of Taylor’s mind when he declared a “cone amnesty” ahead of a visit by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.
A shortage of traffic cones to mark out a no parking zone for the visit prompted Taylor to ask for anyone who had borrowed cones for “projects” to return them.
Police on Scilly have been co-ordinating the search for a missing estate worker called Josh Clayton, who vanished on 13 September. A body was found in the sea off the island of Tresco on Wednesday.
