“YOU wouldn’t watch an old lady being kicked in the street, or a child being attacked in the street, but some people are happy to watch people leave a pub and get into a car.”

This is part of one senior police officer’s message to remind the public they have a social responsibility to prevent drink-driving.

Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick was speaking from the National Road Safety Conference in Brighton, the day after 26-year-old Stephen Lees was jailed for killing a 60-year-old woman while driving at four times the legal drink-drive limit.

When Stephen Lees was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday, the court heard he had refused a number of lifts and alternatives to driving the 1.6 miles from the pub to his home in Cliffe.

Mr Madgwick said: “We all have a social responsibility. You wouldn’t watch an old lady being kicked in the street, or a child being attacked in the street, but some people are happy to watch people leave a pub and get into a car.

“If you see someone who’s leaving a pub who is drunk then I would encourage people to ring 999, don’t go through 101, because my argument is it’s a risk to life and a genuine emergency. We would never criticise a member of the public for that because it’s protecting life.”

Mr Madgwick said the message to prevent drink- driving would again be reinforced as the festive period approaches, but it was tough to keep it fresh and make the public aware just how dangerous it can be.

Mr Madgwick also renewed his appeal to the Government to reduce the drink-drive limit in England, in the same way Scotland and much of Europe has done, and claimed research showed between 40 and 50 lives could be saved each year by doing so.

He said: “Saving 40 or 50 lives a year is good enough reason in the first place, and will also make roads safer generally.

“Although Lees received quite a lengthy sentence, it doesn’t do anything to bring Wendy Nelson back and I suspect from the family’s point of view no sentence will be appropriate.”