Police pick up drunk taxi driver

Police picked up a heavily drunk taxi driver carrying three fare-paying passengers in his cab early Saturday morning.

The taxi was stopped at a routine police checkpoint in inner city Auckland about 2am.

The passengers, two women and one man, arranged other transport to get them to their destinations - the driver was charged with driving under the influence.

Shocked members of the traffic alcohol group manning the checkpoint measured the male taxi driver's excess breath alcohol level at twice the legal limit.

Auckland police said in a statement today they were concerned a taxi driver had blatantly ignored every law associated with drink driving as well as the taxi industry code of ethics.

- NZPA