Booze bus urinated on in weekend sting

File photo / NZH

A Palmerston North police booze bus came under "fire" when it was urinated on and pelted with a bottle during a police drink-driving sting in the Manawatu on Saturday night.

Seven people were caught drink-driving after the bus was set up to coincide with the Hunterville Festival. Six of the drivers caught had been at the festival.

An 18-year-old Whanganui man ran away from the booze bus before being caught by police after he fell headfirst into a deep water-filled ditch in the dark, police said.

They also had to deal with a man found urinating on the generator of the bus and another who pelted the bus with a bottle.

Police caught a further three drink-drivers in Palmerston North later in the night, said Senior Sergeant Nick Dobson of the central district traffic support unit.

"What is society coming to? How many people need to be killed through drink-driving before these motorists sit up and take note?

"We police all roads in New Zealand, not just urban areas, and if drivers think that just because they are on a quiet rural road they are safe, or the rules are different, they are sadly mistaken."

A third of the drivers stopped were more than twice the legal limit, he said.

- NZPA