Alleged drunk driver busted at Hamilton Lake

Hamilton Lake is the home of the Balloons Over Waikato Festival and a popular spot for families. It's also where a man was allegedly found driving drunk nearly five times the legal limit on Wednesday.

A Hamilton man was busted driving nearly five times the legal alcohol limit at a popular family playground.

Senior Sergeant Mike Henwood praised the actions of the concerned member of the public who noticed the 47-year-old's poor driving at Hamilton Lake yesterday and called police about 2.30.

Police breath tested the man, who returned a breath alcohol level of 1136mcg. The legal limit is 250mcg.

"The vehicle had four passengers and they were drunk as well. The reason it was called in was because it was at Hamilton Lake near the Verandah Restaurant carpark and the playground, so obviously there's lots of children in that area."

The man, who was also a disqualified driver, was kept in custody overnight because of his high alcohol level and will appear in the Hamilton District Court today on charges of driving with an excess breath alcohol level and driving while disqualified.

Henwood said the arrest showed the importance of members of the public reporting suspicious activity.

"It's worth reporting incidents when you think a driver is driving poorly or if you think they're affected by alcohol or drugs because police do respond. And obviously they responded quick enough to be able to catch the guy.

"The importance of reporting that to either 111 or *555 is getting these people off the road because that's effectively an accident waiting to happen."